Forbidden Flower
by newportbabe44
Summary: [Complete] AU: Ryan and Marissa have their first kiss, when they're 13 and on a school trip. Chapter 15 is finally up.
1. Default Chapter

Forbidden Flower

PG-13 for some language and sensual content- fluffy piece- one parter--but not anymore

Summary- Ryan and Marissa's first kiss- when they were 13 and on a school trip

Disclaimer- I don't own The O.C. or any of the characters- but a girl can dream right?

Reviews are always welcome- so please review- my first fanfic

On with the story...

The sun beamed in the big yellow bus crammed with Chino Middle School kids. The sun, especially, made 13 year old Ryan Atwood squint. Trying to see his friends while blocking out the sun with his hand, he scooted closer to the conversation, but saw it was no use so he let his head drop to the soft bus seat. He occupied his thoughts trying to make out the words and pictures on the seat in front of him, when he heard his name being called. His head shot up.

"Hey Ryan! Ryan, over here!"

He looked up to some girls calling his name and laughing at the same time. He shot them a quick look as they started to swoon even more at him. He went back to making out the figures on the bus seat, when a shadow came over him, it was his friends, looking down at him. "Man, I don't get it, what do you have that we don't got, we please 'em with everything we got, and yet they still like him," his friend, Jake, said. "It's because he's so _puure_ and _innocent_, and theywanna take it away from him, until whatever's next week," Dan, another on of Ryan's friends,replied jokingly. A group of boys huddled around them, getting in on the conversation.

"So, where's Theresa?" one of the boys asked. Ryan replied with a simple shrug. "Probably screwing some guy, she does high schooler's now," another one said laughing. "So, Atwood, what's your favorite base with Theresa?" Dan asked. "Personally, I love second base." They all started naming their bases while Ryan moved to a seat closer to the front. He could hear calls in the back of the bus, saying what a wimp he was, and making fun of his sensitivity. "I'm not a wimp," he thought to himself, "Just want someone special."

He blocked out all the sounds in the back of the bus, the girls' laughing and the teachers' shouting out directions to the bus driver. He put his head to the cool window and let out a sigh of relief. He looked at the yellow road lines, slowly becoming bigger and then smaller again. He suddenly got very dizzy so he looked at the cars, trying to remember their license plate numbers. His thoughts were interrupted when a yellow bus started to drive at their pace. He looked at the other bus, trying to make out the figures when he saw a girl walking to the front, covering her face and putting her head against the window just as he had done moments ago. He tried to imagine what she really looked like since he couldn't see that well because of the tinted windows.

&&&&

"C'mon, do it, do it!" Holly exclaimed excitedly. Marissa and Luke were about to kiss for the first time. Holly knew what a good kisser Luke was, but Marissa didn't have to know about that. She looked at her best friends, as their lips were only inches away. They had been down this road many times, but Marissa always chickened out. Marissa had her lips puckered up, and eyes closed, she got closer and closer to Luke, but backed out at the last moment, face scrunched like he was some sort of bad stench.

"I'm sorry," she managed to get out weakly.

"I don't get it!" Luke said, "We're boyfriend and girlfriend, right?" Marissa nodded. "So then what's the problem?" he asked scooting closer and closer to her. She pushed him off with her hands,starting to get up and brush off the bottom of her capri pants. "I'm... I'm just not ready, okay, give me some space," she said as she walked to the front of her bus, bumping into Seth Cohen.

"Oh, sorry Seth," she said looking back at him and saw Summer Roberts sitting with him. He shrugged helplessly and went back to his conversation with Summer, telling her how you can do a double flip if you press certain buttons of the game controls. Summer grinned at him. He grinned back. She pretended to be interested in what he was saying, but she couldn't help but stare into his chocolate brown eyes.

Marissa went to the front of the bus, her mind clouded with thoughts. She put her head on the cool window, feeling its coldness, she let out a sigh of relief, and thought to herself, " Luke's not the one I want to share my first kiss with." She looked at the bus they were catching up with, when she saw a pair of blue eyes staring at her. She stared back. Although she couldn't see him very well, she thought she saw a smile come onto his lips, so she smiled back. They both closed their eyes, forgetting everything else besides each other, smiling inside.

&&&&

"Gather 'round, gather 'round!" the teacher shouted. "Now, I want everyone to get with their buddies, if you don't have a buddy I want you to raise your hand!"

Kids started linking hands with each other. Marissa walked up to Luke. "Luke, are we still buddies?" she asked. Luke raised his eyebrows and simply replied, "I don't know." Holly walked up to them. "Great news Luke! We can be buddies...oh Marissa." "Wow Luke, that didn't take long at all!"; Marissa snapped, slightly trembling as shefor an answer. "Whatever," he simply said, but then added, "I don't want keep playing games, Holly doesn't like games, so..." he said looking at Holly slyly, and to break Marissa's fragile heart even more he added, "plus she's like the prettiest girl ever."

Marissa gave them a disgusted look and walked away, back into the crowd of linked-armed kids. "Anyone still not has a buddy?" The teacher asked loudly. Marissa raised her hand shyly, and looked around to see if anyone had their hand raised. But saw no one.

"Great!" the teacher yelled happily. She walked over to Marissa and led her to the back where stood a sandy hair boy with his hand also raised and with the most beautiful blue eyes. "You and... Ryan," she said squinting to read his name tag, "are buddies. Come on and follow me so we can get started soon." The two kids smiled shyly at each other as soon as the teacher walked away; theyrecognized each other immediately from the bus. They started to walk with the rest of the crowd, occasionally shooting the other a glance along their walk.

&&&&

"Okay!" the loud teacher yelled, "go get your supplies, they're right over there." She pointed to a tree with trash bags, sticks and plastic gloves at the trunk of the tree. Luke smelled a flower garden nearby, saying "Ew, these flowers smell like shit," and Holly nodded approvingly.

Ryan, in the back, and not hearing it, got closer to the garden and smelling it, said, "mmm, they smell sweet." Marissa got closer, smelling them, and enjoying the smell as well, nodded to him, "you're right, they do." She took another sniff, enjoying their fragrance and added, "These are the best smelling flowers ever."

They were still shy around each other, embarrassed because of the bus incident. The teacher came to the back where Ryan and Marissa were and started speaking. "This garden," she began, "is called 'The Forbidden Flower Garden' because these flowers are very rare, and they have a horrible stench to them, but because they are very rare, we have them at this park. They are not allowed to be picked, but who would want to anyways? They smell horrible!" she finished laughing nervously. Ryan and Marissa looked at the teacher, then at each other, wondering what it was that made the flowers smell good to them but to everyone else they smelled bad. They smiled shyly at each other.

&&&&

Ryan and Marissa were in a small area picking up garbage, Ryan had the black trash bag open for Marissa to put the garbage in. They moved to another spot where litter was laying around. When Marissa found a small piece of brown leather string, she stuffed it in her pocket without him seeing it. Ryan walked over to Marissa, slightly touching his pocket, making sure the _object_ was still there. "So," he began, "what happened to your buddy"? He wanted to know more about herrelationship with Luke. He had heard the hurtful comments he said to her, and saw how it had hurt her. She froze when he asked this question. She thought about it for a second, and simply stated, "He's an ass." Ryan chuckled and Marissa joined him.

"What about your buddy?" she asked. "I don't really know where she is," he answered her question. "She?" Marissa asked slyly, which made Ryan blush a little bit. "Yeah," he said and continued, "she's okay, I guess, but she wants something from me, I know that much."

"Like what?"

"Well, she's very _experienced_ if you know what I mean." Marissa nodded. "And she's very popular with the boys at school, so I think she-, well she's a slut," he finally finished. Marissa laughed at his sudden outburst, but composed herself when she saw his straight face. "Sorry. But if you think your buddy is a slut, my so called boyfriend is a man slut."

Ryan grinned at her, and she softly explained to him what it was about Luke that she really hated and he explained what it was about his friends that he didn't like. They listened to each other intently as the other spoke, smiling at an occasional joke the other one made. After they explained their life story to each other, it was getting even sunnier so they moved to a shady spot by a big oak tree.

"Here," Ryan said handing her a juice box.

"Thanks," Marissa replied, giving him one of her Oreo cookies.

After they were done with their snack, they laid there for a few minutes in silence. Finally Marissa broke it. "You know, this trip isn't as bad as I thought it would be," sheadmitted facing Ryan. "Yea, it was actually fun", he replied staring into her eyes. He saw something in them, a twinkle, and something overcame him. The feeling he had for her all day, suddenly became stronger. "What time is it?" he asked, she shrugged. "Well, we better get back before they leave without us," she joked. Marissa went a little ahead of him, but stopped when she heard her name being called. "Marissa, Marissa, wait up," Ryan called. She stopped and turned around to face him, they were only two feet apart from each other.

Ryan looked uncomfortable, shifting uneasily from foot to foot. "Are you okay?" Marissa asked. "Yeah," he replied. Sucking in his pride, he shoved his hand in his pocket and took out a flower. Marissa gasped, "Is that the..?" "Yeah, I know we weren't supposed to pick 'em, but it was just one and I don't think they count 'em, I saw how much you liked them, and so I got one for you." Marissa beamed with happiness, "Thank you," she replied happily.

They had gotten closer while they were speaking, and now their bodies were only inches away. Ryan, taking a risk, stepped in a little closer, brushed a few hairs away from her face and placed the flower in her soft hair. "And for the record, I think_you're_ the prettiest girl," he added. She smiled and blushed at the same time, but was going to do what she wanted to say all day long with him, "Well, I think you're pretty cute yourself," she replied truthfully. He felt her breath on his lips.

He gave her a half smile and they both leaned in closer, trying to savor the moment, they closed their eyes. Usually at this point, Marissa backed away from Luke, but her nose wasn't scrunched up and her lips weren't puckered up, her face was at peace. Ryan's on the other hand was surprised; a million thoughts running through his mind, but when their lips crashed together, his face too, fell at peace. Marissa felt her knees go weak, Ryan put his arms around her waist, holding her up, and she loved the way he took charge. She put her arms around his neck, putting their lips even closer together. Ryan's tongue was like velvet against hers, smooth, and she loved the way it felt against her own. Their tongues explored even more of the other's mouth. He loved the wayher tongue was on his, like ice cream, smooth and fulfilling. The kiss intensified and their legs got tangled into one another, Marissa fell on her butt. Ryan smiled and lent his hand to her; she took it but pulled him down instead, him lying down on top of her.

"Umm...oh...do you wan..." Ryan started, but was cut off Marissa's lips. He felt his resistance slip away like a parent's when a child makes puppy dog eyes at them. Marisa ran her hands through his hair smoothly, trying to remember what each moment felt like it. 'Oh, screw it', she thought, and went back to their kiss, getting lost in the passion. Sure they were only 13 years old, but they had never felt like this and they were sure this would never happen with someone else. Smiling into the kiss, they heard a squirrel loudly chewing on its nut. They both looked over to the tree, seeing the squirrel trying to get in the garbage bag. The furry little animal looked at them and then scurried up into the tree's branches.

Ryan looked down at Marissa; she had a disappointed look on her face.He bent down and planted a soft, but passionate kiss on her lips. She returned the kiss, and as if on cue, a robin on a tree, witnessing the whole afternoon, started singing a melodic song. They broke away and smiled at each other. Ryan got up and put his hand out for her to help her up, she took it, but didn't let go as she brushed herself off. They held hands tightly as if they let go, they were going to disappear into thin air. Ryan gave her a reassuring squeeze and she softened her grip. She let go of his hand and put in her pocket pulling out the leather string she had found earlier.

"I found something...for you," she said taking out the string, "and since we found these bracelets for me", she jingled her wrist displaying the three bracelets they found this afternoon, together, she added, "I wanted you to have something too... I know it's not much...but..."

"It's great," he smiled.

"Can I put it on?" she asked.

Before he even had a chance to say anything, she zipped to the back of him and adjusted the choker against his skin. Her fingers were long and slender. She brushed her soft skin against his newly decorated neck. "There!" she exclaimed. "Thanks," he smiled. Before she even had a chance to think about what she's doing, she turned him around and gave him a kiss. They pulled back, smiling. "Well, I guess this is it," Ryan said disappointed. "Yeah, hey maybe...well it was really special," Marissa smiled, referring to the kiss. "For me too," he replied. He planted the last kiss on her, and gave her hand a last squeeze. "Maybe some day..." she cut him off with, "I hope so." With one last smile, Marissa hugged him, and gave his cheek a gentle kiss. They got on their buses, taking their previous seats when they first came. They put their heads against the windows again, feeling the coolness; they let out a sigh, mixed with disappointment and pleasure. He gave her a small wave, she waved back and the buses drive off on opposite directions.

Ryan let all the noises in the bus fade away, letting his eyes drop. His hand felt the choker and he smileed dreaming himself to sleep.

Marissa couldn't stop smiling. She played with her bracelets, letting her eyes droop to their resting position. She smiled as the sounds of kids' screaming and hollering start to drown out of her ears andlooked at her reflection in the window. Smiling as she saw the flower. Letting herself smell it, the sweet smell of the flower and taste of his lips.

_Let me know what you think! And Review! I know it's kind of long but I really wanted to be descriptive._


	2. What Happened After

What Happened After

Summary- What happened after Ryan and Marissa kissed.

Disclaimer- As usual, I don't own anything, I only dream that I owned something.

_A/N- I know, I know, I said it's a one time deal only, but I'm going to put all my 11 reviewers (is that how many I had?) to ease and continue. Since you guys gave me so many great ideas and really want me to continue, I will make your dreams come true and continue. Now to clear up some confusion._

Both middle schools, Chino Middle School and Harbor Middle School, are doing voluntary community service projects, so they are at a park and cleaning up trash. I know, not very romantic, but hey, you loved the story so.... and another thing, I know I wasn't true to the characters like Seth and Summer, but that was kind of the point, for them to change, but don't worry it'll all make sense as the chapters go on. And also, just pretend that you never heard that Marissa and Luke got their mack on their bus trip to the Museum of Tolerance, and Ryan wasn't 'experienced'. Have fun reading and as always, review!

On with the story...

Marissa closed the big wooden door as quickly as she could and leaned against it, letting out a sigh of relief. That was the by far the hardest car ride she ever had to endure, with Holly and Holly's Dad, Mr. Fisher. But her thoughts weren't on Holly, or Holly's Dad, they were on...

"Marissa?" a shrill voice rang through the house. "Marissa, are you home?" it rang again.

She looked up to see her Mom, the one and only Julie Cooper, coming down the stairs, downed with a new dress, of course. "Hey Mom," she said as she plastered a smile on her face and started up the stairs.

"Sweetie?" Julie asked. "Yeah Mom?" Marissa said as she turned around, facing her Mom.

"How was your trip?" she asked, walking over and putting her hands on her daughter's shoulders. "It was good," Marissa replied. "Well, that's good," Julie said as she leaned to kiss the top of her head, but backed away when she smelled the "forbidden flower" 'smell'.

"Marissa, I want you to take a shower, your hair smells horrible, what did you do, roll around in the trash you picked up?" Marissa smiled and put her hand over the pocket, making sure the flower was still in there, and feeling its poofiness, smiled even brighter.

"I know Mom, I was just going right now," Marissa answered.

"Well hurry up, dinners in 20 minutes," Julie told her, checking her diamond studded watch.

"Oh, Mom...I'm really tired, I just wanna get some rest so..." Marissa started to say, but Julie cut her off. "I'll bring it to your room, 'Kay?" she smiled at Marissa. "Thanks", Marissa said and ran up the stairs, closing her bedroom door and going into her closet.

She dug deeper in her heap of shoeboxes until she found the one she was looking for. She smiled when she finally found it, and put the box on the bed. She carefully took out the flower from her pocket and sat down next to the box. She looked at the box, decorated with bright pink paper, stars and hearts and a small hint of colored glitter, and took off the top. The words, 'Marissa's Most Valuable Things' written inside in a sloppy five year old's handwriting and in blue marker.

She loved this box; she made it in kindergarten and always kept it. She looked inside and saw nothing. 'Well, now I'll have something', she thought. She took a sniff of the flower, its fragrance, just as strong as when he put it in her hair, still lingering in the air. She put in the box and put the top over it. She went over to her closet and dug deeper through the shoeboxes and hangers, as if she was a dog making a hole to bury her bone and placed it at the very bottom, making sure her Mom, Caitlyn, or the maid never found it, because if they did, they would make her throw it out. She smacked her lips together and smiled, remembering the work they had done today. Smiling, she went to the vanity chair and picked up her bathrobe, humming some sort of song, loud and off- key, but to her; it was just like his lips; perfect.

&&&&

"Why you smilin' so much today Ry?" Dawn asked Ryan, noticing the smile plasted on his face all afternoon.

"No reason," he said, smiling, and went back to hand washing the dishes.

"Oh, okay, well I'm gonna hit the sack," Dawn said, pointing to her room.

"Ok, 'night Mom," Ryan said waving good night to his mother with his free hand. After a few minutes, he wiped his hands on the rag, and sat down on the stained couch with a foul smell, but today, it had a certain good smell to it, at least to him. He took the beaten up remote and turned on the small TV, turning to a sports channel. He saw his favorite baseball team was winning, 4-0; he kept the smile on his face. Leaningagainst the couch, still keeping his eyes on the TV. but thinking about something...someone completely different. He licked his lips, still tasting her chapstick, even after the macaroni and cheese, and the fifty wipes of a towel, it was still there. His eyes started to droop, but he fought with his brain and kept them open, for about 30 seconds, until he finally gave in and they closed. The smile was still on his face, as he thought to himself, 'It was a good day'. In fact it had been a great day, at least for two very different thirteen year olds who had a smile on their faces as they slept.

_A/N-I know I kinda threw you off with Dawn's character, I just wanted to keep it simple, and show she's 'okay' when she's not drunk. I know, a cheesy chapter, but it was sweet, right? I already have my next chapter 'thought' out, I just need to 'think' it out on the computer and add a few details. So thanks and I hope you liked it!_


	3. Meeting Again

Meeting Again

Summary- This is going to be like the Pilot, with a few things changed of course.

Disclaimer- I own nothing...still, but maybe one day. (Hey, you never know)

_A/N- YAY! Chapter 3 is up! I'm so glad to hear you guys want longer chapters, so that means I can actually write longer chapters. This is going to be like The Pilot, but 'my way', so a few things will be different since they already know each other. Since a few things will be different, and this chapter is going to be long...I think. Everything happened with Ryan and his Mom and Sandy...so it starts off at the driveway part._

On with the story...

Ryan looked around as he walked to the driveway for a quick smoke. He saw a girl sitting on the curb, she was particularly skinny, and her light brown, wavy hair blew in the wind. He seemed somewhat drawn to her, even though she was skinny. He usually wasn't interested in skinny girls since...Marissa. He smiled as he traced the choker outline around his neck, remembering that day. He didn't really think about that day, okay so if you count every time he looked in the mirror and caught glimpse of it or eveytime he took it off and put it back on, everyday.

He got a little closer to the curb, to see what she looked like, and flicked the lighter, hoping it would make her look up.

Marissa heard the sound of feet coming down the driveway and a flicker of a lighter, so she looked up. She saw a boy, staring at her, lighting his cigarette. She looked at his eyes, but then at his neck, she recognized the choker. She stood up...surprised.

"R...Ry...Ryan?" she finally forced out of her mouth as she brushed herself off.

"Marissa?" he asked, eyes widening. He dropped the cigarette to the ground.

She ran over to him and hugged him, she couldn't kiss him this time, and she had a boyfriend, a boyfriend she didn't like, but oh well. Neither had a hug like this since...the last time they hugged.

They finally pulled back, although neither really wanted to, but they stood close to each other, to maintain certain closeness to them. In fact they stood so close, they could hear the rapid beating of the other's heart.

"What are you doing here?" she finally asked, smiling.

"Oh...um," Ryan was hesitant to say why he was really there, at least to Marissa.

Marissa saw he didn't really want to talk about it, so instead asked, "Are you living with the Cohen's?"A little too happily.

"Uh...long story," Ryan replied, giving her a half smile. Her heart nearly melted at the sight of his smile. She grinned back at him, and was about to say something when a big black truck pulled up in front of them. Her heart froze this time; she saw Luke...and Holly?

"Get in!" Luke shouted, once he saw her and Ryan talking. Marissa gave them the one sec signal, and turned to Ryan.

"Uh, sorry, I should get going, I wish I could stay, but..." she said with a disappointed voice

"Its okay," he recovered, "Maybe later."

"Definitely later," she said with a smile on her face.

"Marissa, the party's halfway over," Holly whined from the passenger seat.

"Bye," Marissa said as she gave him a small wave and purposely brushed his shoulder against hers. Yep, the 'tingle' was still there, and a shiver went down their spines as they touched.

She got in the backseat, seeing as Holly was in the passenger¡¦s, and they drove off. She dared not look back; she didn't want to hear what Luke would say.

"So?" Luke began, "Who was that?" The jealousy in his voice was evident, and this made Marissa smile, for some strange reason.

"Oh...um...Ryan? He's the Cohen's cousin...from Boston," she lied to them, although she wasn't sure herself, he could be. She made it a point to find out, and to have more than a two minute conversation with him. But she couldn't, tomorrow was the Fashion Show. Should she skip it? But just to talk with him? It was all too confusing, so she leaned her head against the cool window. From the corner of her eye, she looked back to see him going up the driveway. She sighed as loud as she could without causing a distraction in Luke and Holly's conversation which happened to be about how big of a queer Cohen is. Marissa knew what she wanted to do, and it didn't matter to her how much she would be giving up. An idea popped in her head.

&&&&

She followed Luke and Holly inside the party, and they went off in their own way. People were drinking, doing cocaine, body shots, and she even saw a few girls stumbling around, trying to keep their balance, with drinks in their hand. 'Is that what I look like?! she thought. She never noticed before, as soon as she got there, she went straight to the drinks table, but now that she actually looked around, she didn't like what...who she had become. 'Maybe I won't have any drinks tonight,' she said to herself.

Marissa looked around for Luke, she wanted to go home, couldn't stand the loud music, and people whooping and hollering. She never seemed to notice before, she was too caught up in getting drunk, and that drowned out all the noises, and was always too numb to realize anything around her, but now it was a sharp and painful noise, and right in the pit of her stomach. She had an empty feeling and couldn't stand it anymore. She wanted to scream and yell at everyone there, tell them to be ashamed, ashamed at what they...including her, had become; sixteen year old alcoholics and some much more than that, drug dealers etc.

She walked around, noticing the drunken grins, and drunken slurring. She really wanted to be alone...well not necessarily alone, she wanted to be with one person, Ryan. At the mention of his name, and in her own mind, she felt herself blush.

Finally! She found Luke, he was sitting on the couch with Holly, and they were awfully close. 'Oh well, it's because of me they're so nice to each other', she thought to herself.

Oh Marissa, if you knew, if only you knew.

"LUKE!" she screamed over the music and hollering. "LUKE!" she screamed again. He turned around and faced her, well sort of.

"YES?" he loudly slurred. Marissa shook her head, they had been at the party for like, five minutes and he was already drunk. "I wanna go home!" she yelled at him, quite harshly. He had a strange of look on his face, one with somewhat pleasure, and waved her off dismissively and returned to the slurring conversation he was having with Holly. _Great, I have to walk home._

The walk home wasn't so bad, she actually enjoyed the smell of the ocean, instead of having her face permanently glued to a plastic cup with some, what she called 'numbing liquid,' or to the rest of the world, alcohol, which always smelled horrible. Speaking of smells, she suddenly remembered the special smelling object that was hidden at the bottom of her closet. Marissa smiled as she sprinted the rest of the two blocks to her house.

&&&&

She flipped off the top, and the smell just burst out of it, like it had been wanting to for years. It hadn't been opened since that day, and she wished she had opened it some days, just to make her feel better, but she was always was too afraid that if she opened she would find out that it shriveled up and died, or the smell had gone away. But no, everything was the same as when she had put it there, three years ago. True, the flower looked a little paler, but its deep crimson color was still there, and the creamy milk color on some of the petals was still the creamy white it had been. She took it out and took a big sniff, and suddenly felt just like she had that day so many years ago when she was thirteen, and kissed the sandy haired boy, with the most beautiful eyes. Marissa smiled and looked out the window to the Cohen's house. She saw a light in the house, 'Seth's room', she thought, and that was all the lights that were on, at least in the house. But then she looked over to the poolhouse, and saw 'him', Ryan.

He was setting out the blankets on the bed; he looked like he was deep in thought. Marissa had another thought. She put the flower back in the box and put it back in the closet, this time not on the bottom, just behind a few dresses, so she had easy access to it. She knew she wouldn't get in trouble by her parents, they would assume she was still at the party so; she went over to the window and opened it. She climbed down her trellis and headed toward the pool house.

&&&&

'Marissa?" Ryan asked again in his mind. 'Marissa?' he repeated in his head again. He repeated it again for the millionth time since the driveway. 'What's she doing here?' he asked himself, and then answered, 'Oh yeah, she lives right next door'. His thoughts were interrupted when there was a light tapping at the door, 'Probably Mr. or Mrs. Cohen,' he thought, and turned around. And he saw her.

Her wavy, sun streaked hair, those dark blue, penetrating eyes, and those juicy lips that he just wanted to kiss so much. He didn't move, which was so unlike him. Marissa took this as her cue to come in, so she opened the unlocked door and walked over to him. "Hey," she said, giving him a confused smile once, she noticed his stiffness. He didn't say anything, just stood there, looking a mixture of constipation and surprised. Marissa walked over to him and gave him a 'friendly' hug, any excuse to touch him, right?

He relaxed at her touch and hugged her back. Once they were done with their 'friendly hugging', she walked over to the bed and sat at the edge. "Hey...sorry if I...I'm just surprised you're here," he said as he snapped back to reality.

"I said I'd see you later," Marissa replied. "So, what are you doing here?" she asked.

He blushed a little, embarrassed to say the real reason he was here, but saw the urgent look on Marissa's face and started. "Well, you see..." and trailed off as he sat down next to her.

The whole time he was speaking, they stared into each other's eyes, not taking them off each other, as if though they were having a romantic staring contest. "...and so here I am," he finally finished. She nodded understandably and he gave her a small smile. Her heart melted again.

"How long are you here for?"

"Not long," he answered, "Just 'till Monday probably."

"Oh." The disappointment was evident in her voice.

"What?" Ryan asked, a smile creeping upon her lips, he was somewhat amused. Marissa felt the pink on her cheeks turn red. She stood up and walked over to somewhere where he couldn't see her turn an even darker red. She finally gained composure, and turned to face him.

"So? What are you doing tomorrow?" she said, trying to change the subject.

He shrugged. "Good, I have no plans either," she lied. "So we can do whatever...together," she said happily.

"Okay...I guess," he said like he didn't care, but inside was beaming.

"Oh and whatever you do, DON'T go to the Fashion Show tomorrow, do whatever you can do get out of it," she said, almost threatening him. He found her quite cute when she got demanding.

"Ok," he simply said, trying not to laugh at her 'threat'.

"Well, I better go," Marissa said looking at a clock on the wall.

"Um...ok, so tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow." Marissa confirmed. He walked her over to the door, "Bye."

"Bye."

He wanted to touch her, somehow, but that could be taken as a friendly gesture.

Oh Ryan, if only you knew what was through her mind, friendly gestures were not one of them.

She saw his hesitance so she gripped his arm, 'God! Feel those biceps!' she thought to herself. She gave it a reassuring squeeze, and confirmed tomorrow night, "I'll come by at 7, 'Kay?"

He nodded, and she left, gracefully walking back to her house, and they both had a peaceful sleep that night, having 'fantasies' about the other one, and these ones would not be considered 'friendly'.

_A/N-Okay! So what did you think? I really wanted this chapter to be long and I guess it was, but I really had to get some 'emotions' in this chapter and the meet and greet, so it might've been kind of 'boring' or not, tell me what you think. The next one is juicy and has a bit of a cliffhanger to it, so I'm updating really soon, before I get writer's block (which I never seem to have-LOL) Review! Thanks._


	4. Night In

Night In

Summary- Ryan and Marissa finally get some alone time, with no interruptions, could it lead to something more?

Disclaimer- Nothing...still, but hey maybe if I bribe FOX with my life savings which is...10 bucks, do you think it could work? Nah didn't think so. Oh wait! I found 53 cents, now how can they resist?

_A/N- It's just a little ooc, in some parts at least...but it'll all make sense next chapter._

On with the story...

"I'm just not comfortable going," Ryan told Sandy.

"Okay, I understand," Sandy said as he walked to the door. He turned around, "Are you sure? Last chance," he smiled and surrendered his hands.

"Yeah. I'll be asleep by the time you guys get home anyways, so..." Ryan said with a smile.

"Okay, 'night," Sandy said as he gave him one last smile and walked off to the car.

He had finally got rid of them. It's not that he didn't like the Cohen's, he really did, look at how much they had done for him, but it was getting really close to 7 and Marissa would be there soon, so he tried to get rid of them as fast as he could. After pleading with them for about 20 minutes, they gave up, and he got to stay 'home'.

Seth had helped him a little. Seth was a good kid, just had an obsession with Summer Roberts, his 'friend.' He took Ryan out on his boat which was just coincidentally named, 'Summer Breeze,' and she called him 3 times on his cell, and once they got home, she called again, twice. So they both had an obsession, with each other.

Seth offered to stay with Ryan, to keep him company, Ryan quickly crushed that idea, and he thought he saw a little bit of glee in his face. 'Summer was probably going to be there', he thought, and then the phone rang, and it was...Summer!

Seth wasn't exactly popular, he was into skateboarding, video games, and had a weird, but refreshing sense of humor; but being friends with Summer got him accepted into the popular group. They still talked bad about him when he or Summer weren't around, Ryan knew that much. But apparently, popularity wasthat was all that mattered around here.

Ryan looked around the pool house. Sighing, he went to the mini-fridge and opened it. A few sodas and frozen meals that should last him...and her. A smile overcame his lips, and he looked at the door to see if he could see her, he couldn't, probably soon though. What if she hadn't been able to get out of her 'thing'?A frown crossed his face, as he checked the clock; 7:03.

&&&&

"I'll be fine. Okay?" Marissa said to her mother.

Julie sighed and ran a hand through her daughter's hair. "Are you sure your not well enough to join us, I mean, you play an important role tonight, they couldn't do it without you."

"I already called them, they got a replacement," Marissa explained toJulie.

"Sure you can't? I mean it is one of the most important events and if you just go and..."

Jimmy's harsh voice interrupted her, "Julie!"

"Oh all right," Julie finally gave up and stormed out past Jimmy, to the car, where Caitlin soon joined her.

"Thanks Dad," Marissa said with a fake hoarse voice.

"Feel better, 'Kay kiddo?" Jimmy told her as he gave her a warm smile.

"I will, just a little stomach thing, sure it'll pass by soon," she lied.

"Bye, love you," and with that he ran down the stairs to the car, and they drove off.

Once Marissa heard the car leave, she threw back the covers, wiped off the imaginary sweat, and checked herself in the mirror. She put on a casual, simple dress that tied in the back. She climbed out the window on the trellis and headed towards the pool house.

His fears finally settled once he saw her running towards his door. She knocked twice and then opened the door.

"Hey! Sorry I'm late, it was just my mom," she apologized.

"It's okay," he said giving her a warm smile.

"So what do you wanna do?" she asked, looking around the pool house.

Ryan shrugged, "But I don't really wanna go anywhere, the Cohen's would probably get worried...or something."

"That's fine," she said.

They looked around awkwardly, waiting for the other to say something.

"You wanna play a game or something?" she asked, sitting next to him. Ryan gave her a look.

_Great idea, Marissa, a game, you're not baby-sitting Caitlyn, you're on a date!_ she said to herself. _Wait! A date? Is this a date? Did Ryan think this was a date?_

He gave her another funny look.

"Sorry," she quickly recovered, "like a mind game, they're loads of fun!" _Loads of fun? Jeez Marissa, you're not 60_, she said to herself. He gave her a smile and scooted farther back on the bed, and drew his knees to his chest.

"Okay, I'm sure we can have loads of fun," he laughed.

"Hey," Marissa said as he playfully slapped his arm. Boy did it feel good to touch him, and he felt it too, that spark, something was there, something more than friendship.

&&&&

"Okay, you have to choose, dating someone whohas the personalityof your Mom, or your Dad?"

Marissa thought about it for a second, "My Dad, having one Julie Cooper is hell enough, having to see twice a day, pure hell," she laughed and he laughed along with her. "That was fun!" Marissa replied cheerfully.

"Yeah." Ryan agreed.

"You wanna watch a movie?" Marissa asked after a few moments of silence. Ryan shrugged, but pointed to the TV...

She happily went there, almost skipping, and took out a few DVD's. "Their collection isn't impressive, do you wanna come over and see a movie at my house?" she asked.

"Okay," Ryan replied with a smile on his face.

&&&&

She climbed up the trellis first to open the window, but then she thought it was a bad idea, seeing as she was wearing a dress and Ryan was only a few feet down. She looked down and saw him with his head down, looking at the ground, awkwardly. He obviously had the same thoughts as her. _What a gentleman_, Marissa thought. She finally opened the window and got in; Ryan shortly followed and closed the window.

He looked around, it was a coral theme room, with its pastel colors, and there were also pictures of her and her friends and some with relatives. "I'm gonna change," she said, pointing to a few grass and dirt stains on her dress.

"Okay," he nodded.

She went in the bathroom while Ryan looked at the pictures. He saw one of her and Luke, Luke of course with a beer in his hand and an arm draped over her waist, but she seemed to be smiling, but it was a fake smile he noted as he looked closer. He looked around more, seeing girls and boys at the beach, or some sort of school function, like a dance. After he had enough with looking at pictures with her and her fake smiles, he went over to her CD and looked at her collection. He didn't really know any of these bands, but was still interested.

Marissa came out in a pair of sweatpants and white v-neck t-shirt and her hair in a loose ponytail. "Hey," she said smiling. He looked up and saw her smile. It wasn't like the smile in the pictures, this one seemed genuine. "Hey," he said smiling back. _So I make her smile_, he thought.

"So what kind of movie do you wanna watch?"

He shrugged, "Whatever, doesn't matter."

"Good, than I hope you won't mind if we watch a weepy movie, chick flick," Marissa further explained.

"That's fine," Ryan said sitting on the bed and propping himself against the headboard. She got the movie and popped it in, and joined him.

&&&&

"It's just so sad, I mean so many people died and...And he was one of them..." Marissa cried in the tissue. "...it's based on real life, when it actually sank, even though these characters aren't real..." she finished once she gained composure. He nodded knowingly. "...and they only knew each other for such a short time, but she fell in love with him anyways...and gave up comfort to be happy..." she started in the tissue again,"...it's just so beautiful," she finally finished.

"Real sentimental streak you got there," he said to her. She laughed and wiped the few stray tears from her face.

"Sorry, I probably look hideous," Marissa apologized as she got out of the bed and in the front of the mirror.

"You look...great, never bad," he replied truthfully.

"Thanks." She said, seeing his reflection in the mirror and his cheeks were turning pinker by the second. They suddenly heard a car pull up in the driveway and doors shut. "Well, I should probably get going."

"Yeah," she said with disappointment, opening the window for him to climb out the trellis. Ryan climbed out, "So see you later?" he asked hopefully, halfway down. "Definitely," Marissa replied, sensing the hopefulness in his voice.

He walked back to the pool house and got under the sheets, falling asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

&&&&

"Ryan? Ryan?" Sandy whispered in the pool house, he saw the boy asleep so went back to his own bed.

&&&&

"Marissa? Marissa, are you asleep?" Julie asked walking in the room. She saw Marissa was out like a light. Giving her a quick kiss on the forehead, Julie left the room.

&&&&

"So she's like the only girl I've ever introduced to my parents," Seth told Ryan, explaining his complex relationship with Summer.

"Uh-huh," Ryan nodded, trying to understand. Then all of a sudden, the phone rang. Seth went and answered it.

"Hey! Um...hang on a sec," Seth said putting a hand over the phone. "Ryan, you wanna come to a party, should be real wild, ladies...drinking?"

"That's okay," Ryan said shaking his head, "You go, I'm just probably gonna pack." Marissa was going to come by later, at least that's what he hoped, he left tomorrow morning. "Okay...Summer? Yeah, I'm coming, yeah real funny you are, of course I'll pick you up," he said, turning his attention back to the phone.

"Well, I'm gonna head out, tell my parents, see ya," and with that Seth left.

&&&&

"So just sign these papers," Sandy said handing the papers to Ryan. "So I'm officially property of the government?" Ryan asked glancing at the papers.

"I'll do the best I can, okay? Sandy answered truthfully.

"Well thanks for all that you've done, both of you," he said signing the papers and thanking his guardians for the past two days.

"Your social worker is a real nice lady, she'll come by in the morning to...you know," Kirsten said jumping in, trying to make the situation better.

"Thanks," Ryan said rather bluntly and with one last wave, he left to go to the pool house.

&&&&

Ryan was having trouble sleeping. He knew what it was; he couldn't go with some strangers and live with them. Sure the Cohen's were strangers, but he felt like he knew someone there, oh yeah...Marissa. He got quite angry at the mention of name, she said that they would hang out, but she didn't come over, but then again neither did he, so he couldn't really be mad at her.

He knew he couldn't do this anymore, so he got out and put on a pair of pants, grabbed his jacket and backpack, and taking one last look at the pool house, he left. He should've left a note, he didn't want the police looking for him, and then getting in more trouble than he already was. He went back in, found a piece of scrap paper and pencil and wrote a quick note to the Cohen's.

_Thank you for everything you have done, I appreciate it very much, but I don't want to impose anymore. You have a great family, and I wish you a good life, but please don't waste your time and send anyone looking for me, I'll probably be long gone._

_Thanks again,_

_Ryan_

He left it on the bed and headed out. But before he could, he had one last stop.

'Tip', "Marissa," 'Tap', "Marissa". After a few more of those, Marisa finally stirred in her sleep. To the sound of his voice, she sat up. She saw rocks being thrown at her window. She went to the window and saw Ryan, backpack and jacket on. "Ryan?" she said surprised.

He motioned for her to come down. She nodded and came down. Once she was face to face with him, she started to speak. "I'm so sorry I couldn't come, my Mom was keeping me locked in, and she thought I was still sick..."

Ryan interrupted her, "Wait, when were you sick?"

"Oh...um, my mom thought I was sick, she's kind of a drama queen, wanted to send me to the emergency room," Marissa recovered. She couldn't tell him that she had skipped one of the most important events of Newport just to spend the night with him.

"Okay, well I just wanted to say bye, so bye," and he turned around.

"Wait!" Marissa practically shouted and turned him around. "What?"

"I...I think I'm gonna go...out of Newport..."

"And back to Chino?" she questioned.

"No, just...out...anywhere, just not here," he replied.

And without even thinking, Marissa spoke. "I'm coming with you."

Ryan's eyes widened. "Uh, what?"

She hadn't realized what she said, but repeated herself, more confident this time. "I'm coming with you."

"What? No, I didn't come here to convince you into coming with me; I just wanted to say good-bye."

"You wouldn't have come here just to tell me bye, you want me to come with you...so I'm coming with you," she said.

"Marissa you have a life here, you can't just leave it, you'd be leaving too much behind," Ryan told her.

"You left Chino, you didn't leave anything?" she asked.

"No, Chino was...terrible, you have a good life, not like me."

"You think my life is good? I have friends I don't like, my parents fight constantly, I mean I have...I have nogood memories of my childhood except..." and stared at the ground shyly, "...except...my first kiss."

"You remember that?" he asked shyly, surprised she had remembered.

"How could I forget?" she told him, blushing.

Her cell phone started ringing and interrupted the awkward, but peaceful silence. She rolled her eyes but quickly went up the trellis. Before she got all the way up, she told Ryan to wait. He nodded and she went in and answered her phone. Ryan tried to listen to the conversation on the phone. He could only make out a few words, see other people

...it's not fair...me or you...trip.

A few minutes later she came out, with a duffle bag, a jacket and car keys. "Let's go," she said dangling the car keys in his face.

"Marissa, what about your parents? I mean I left the Cohen's a note...a note?"

She whipped out her cell phone, "I'll explain it to them later...in the morning."

"Running away isn't the answer," he said. Marissa gave him a look.

"Works for you," she deadpanned.

Ryan had to admit, she was right. But he couldn't do that to Marissa, or her family.

"I'm still not sure though, I wish I could, just me and you, but we can't..."

"Ryan, we can..." she interrupted him, getting closer and closer, "But the question is do you want to?" she asked. With her free hand, she brought it up to his choker and pulled it on it, bringing their heads together.

Then something provoked them, weather it was her wavy, sun streaked hair blowing in the wind, or his blue eyes shining along with the rest of the stars, something provoked them.

Now their noses were touching, Marissa finally closed the gap, tugging on his choker until their lips met. Their tongues were refreshing to the other's mouth. Marissa let go of the choker and wrapped her arms around his neck, tightly, putting their already close lips, even closer. Ryan felt the resistance melt away like ice cream left out in the sun on a hot California day. 'Mmm...ice cream', he thought, her tongue was just like ice cream, smooth and fulfilling, tasted just like it did four years ago.

They both felt like they were thirteen again and kissing someone for the first time. Suddenly it wasn't night anymore, it was day and they were thirteen, with the red robin singing its melodic song, and the squirrel chewing on its nut in the branches.

They continued to kiss passionately until they were out of breath. They pulled back and Marissa looked at Ryan with those penetrating eyes, Ryan panted, "I want to...I want to." She smiled and pulled in for another kiss, and her knees went weak again, but she felt his arms wrap around her waist to hold her up. They pulled back again; Marissa smiled, grabbed her duffle bag off the ground, took his hand and led him to the car. "Me too, me too," she whispered into his ear.

_A/N-So what do you think? I had fun writing this chapter. Did you expect this was going to happen? I have an idea where I'm going with this, but since they're both 17, not sure how this idea is gonna work out. So as you can see, I'm not heading into the model home. The next one should follow their 'adventure', have any ideas? And also how should the Coopers react, and the Cohen's? Should Ryan and Marissa come home or live on their own, happily? I kind of like the idea of them living on their own. The other characters aren't really important, like parents or SS, just fillers, just major RM. Any ideas would be helpful, I write what you guys want, and so I hope this made up for the last chapter._


	5. First Night Out

First Night Out 

Summary- This is what their first night out by themselves is like. Where they go, who they meet ...stuff like that, more interesting than it sounds.

Disclaimer- I own nothing that has to do with The O.C., it belongs to Josh Schwartz, McG, Doug Liman, and a whole bunch of people but sadly, none of those 'bunch of people', is me.

_A/N-Another finally chapter finally,and also a special shout-out to Sis2ACeserSalad, thanks for the idea, this chapter is a little different than your e-mail, but I still hope you like it._

On with the story...

Marissa stopped to the sound of his voice before they got in the car. "Wait!" Ryan exclaimed. "You can't back down, so, are you sure?" he asked putting a hand on her shoulder. Marissa gave him a deep kiss to show that she was sure. "I'm sure," she said breathing on his lips. Ryan gave her a slight nod, but just than had another thought, but Marissa interupted him.

"Wait! Ryan, I don't think it's safe to take the car," she explained. Ryan agreed, "I don't think we should take your car either, I mean your lic..." he trailed off.

"That's right, well what do suggest, a cab?"

"No, your parents will see," Ryan said shaking his head, "looks like the only other choice is...the bus?"

"Guess we're walking to the bus station."

Ryan looked surprised.

"It's only like...45 minutes away," Marissa explained as pointed to her sneakers.

Ryan shrugged but started to walk in the way of the bus, Marissa trailed after him looping an arm through his.

&&&&

They finally got to the bus station. Marissa noticed all the people there, some that looked like they were living there, others who were drinking, and some were passed out either from drinking or just sleeping; because they had drank too much . She also noticed all the drunken smiles some of the men were giving her, while others tried to touch her as she passed by. She felt her heart beat even faster so she took ahold of Ryan's hand, squeezing it tightly. Ryan understood she was scared, so he sqeezed back. He put an arm around her as they got to bigger and drunker men. He felt the rapid beating of her heart go up and down whenever they passed someone. He wondered if she could feel his as well.

They finally found an unoccupied seat, farther from everyone else and they sat down.

Ryan made it clear that he wasn't taking his arm around her anytime soon, and for that, Marissa was grateful.

"So where are we gonna go?" she asked in a whisper.

He shrugged. "A hotel?" Marissa suggested. "I think we should save our money for when we really need it," he told her.

"I have a credit card, and my life savings with me," Marissa continued to whisper in his ear, as if the people there found out they had money, they were going tojump them and take everything.

"I have my life savings too, but I think I have an idea where we can stay, a friend of mine," he whispered back into her ear. Marissa smiled and nodded as she gave him a tender kiss on the lips, and than rested her head on his shoulder. Ryan knew that this was going tobe hard, but would be even harder alone, so he was glad someone was there with him...and was even more glad that that someone was Marissa.

He smiled slightly as he looked down and saw her fast asleep, but still keeping a tight grip on his hand that wasn't around her and the her other hand on the duffle bag. He rested his own head against hers and sighed. Moments later the bus pulled up. Everyone started getting on, Ryan gently shook Marissa and they were the last to get on.

They made their way through the seats, Ryan blocking out any pervert that dared tried to touch Marissa. They got a seat in the back corner. Marissa tried to avoid all the drunken stares she was getting, but it was hard, especially when a few men moved their seats to the back to get a closer look. A few women, including some hookers came on and they took the attention away from her, for which Marissa was glad for. But when they got off at the next corner, she wasn't so glad anymore.

Marissa got even closer to Ryan, as if she wasn't close enough that she was practically on his lap. He gave her a small smile and she returned the gesture.

Ryan finally pulled the bus string after what seemed like forever. They got out without any trouble since more than half of the men were passed out or too lazy to move. Ryan payed the bus toll and they walked off in the dark streets of Chino.

They finally got to a small, yellow house with a doggy door. Ryan quietly knocked on the door a few times before a big chested girl, with curly black hair, and with the biggest hoop earrings Marissa had ever seen, came out. She was downed in tight, black leather pants, and an even tighter corset matching top, that pushed her chest up even more, and her eyes were outlined in black. _It's nearly 1 in the morning, are those her pajamas?_ Marissa thought. She looked over at Ryan, he seemed unhappy to see her.

"Well, well, if it isn't Ryan Atwood. What the hell are you doing back here? Thought we got rid of you for good? And who the hell is this?" she asked, pointing to the girl Ryan had ever so closely to himself. "This is Marissa, Marissa, Theresa," Ryanmade the awkward introduction.

"Hi," Marissa said as she lent out her hand, waiting for a friendly handshake. Theresa gave her a weird look. Marissa, clearly embarassed with herself, clutched her duffle bag again. _Theresa? Why does that sound familiar?_ Marissa thought.

"Is Arturo home?" Ryan asked. Theresa shook her head, but added, "He should be back later, why?"

"He said if I ever needed a place to stay, I could come here so...I need a place to stay."

"Shouldn't you be with your rich family?" Theresa snapped.

Ryan gave her a 'whatever' look, "So can we stay here or what?"

"We?" Theresa asked as if there was only person standing in front of her. Ryan gave her an annoyed look. She finally gave up and moved out of the way for them to get in. "You get the room next to the bathroom," sheexplained, annoyed, seeing as Ryan didn't take his arm off of Marissa's waist. _It seemed to be surgically sewn there_, Theresa thought.

Marissa looked around for the dog, seeing as there was a doggy door on the door. Ryan saw this and whispered in her ear, "There's no dog."

"Oh," sheblushed a little. They walked in the room together and Ryan removed his 'surgically sewn' arm from her waist, but they still remained close. He opened his backpack and took out a sweatshirt and put it on. For some reason, it was cold in Chino, especially at night. Marissa followed his lead and opened her duffle bag, taking out a seatshirt and sweatpants. She quickly took off her jacket and put on the sweatshirt and started to unbutton her pants when she saw Ryan looking away, obviously shy. "Turn around," she said jokingly, but he did as she told him. She quickly changed and Ryan couldn't but smile while she did. He finally turned around once she said she was done.

Theresa opened the door, without even knocking; she wanted to interupt something, but just saw she had interupted a goofy grin contest. She cleared her throat a few times before she finally got their full attention. "I'm gonna head to the party, do...whatever, just don't wake up my Mom," she said.

They both nodded, but then Theresa changed her mind. She didn't want Ryan making any moves on that piece of trash, okay so Marissa wasn't exactly trash, but to Theresa she was, an expensive piece of trash. "Actually, you know what I think I'm gonna stay here with you guys, catch up," she said in a fake cheery voice. _Juan and Miguel can wait till tomorrow_, she thought.

Now it was Marissa's turn to give her a look. Ryan gave her the same look as Marissa did. "We're gonna go to sleep, and then just head out in the morning, take the 8:45 bus," Ryan explained. Theresa gave them a 'so?' look. Marissa saw this and said, "So good night."

"Whatever," she said as she waved at them dismissivily. "Thank you," Ryan said gratefully, being nicer with her than he had all day. She rolled her eyes and walked off, leaving Ryan and Marissa alone. "I know she's not the nicest person...", Ryan started. "It's okay, she gave us a place for the night...and for free," Marissa cut him off, giving him a small smile. He smiled apologetically, while she tugged on his arm, leading them to 'their' bed.

They got under the stained yellow comforter and laid their heads on the greasy smelling pillows. Marissa put her back to Ryan's chest and he loosely placed an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to himself. She turned her head and placed a sweet kiss kiss on his lips. "Good night," she said innocently when she pulled back. "Good night," he repeated back, burying his face in the sweet smell of her hair. She fell asleep to his steady breathings she felt on her neck.

&&&&

The sun shone through the dingy windows and Marissa drew her knees even closer to her chest to make herself warmer from the chilliness that had come into the room throughout the night. Ryan felt this and put an even tighter arm around her, and shortly after, woke up. He opened his eyes to find her hair all in his face. He was startled at first, but then realized everything what had happened last night. A small smile tingled his lips. Marissa felt him move so she turned around to face him.

"Good morning," Marissa said sweetly. "Morn..." Ryan started to say but was cut off by Marissa's intense kiss. He kissed back until it was getting harder to breathe. Marissa pulled back to get in a quick breather and wipe a few of her hairs from Ryan's face, but then leaned in again.

For some reason, they never stopped their kisses until they thought they would pass out if they didn't pull back. Even though they were like this, and they only had a few kisses, they were full of passion and emotion. Ryan didn't need his breath taken away anymore, just looking at her took his breath away, and the kisses added even more to taking his breath away.

Unfortunateley, this time, a knock on the door interupted them, and they didn't have to pull back panting. Marissa quickly got off of Ryan and Theresa came barging in.

She saw them both fully clothed and no clothes thrown all over the floor, _Good, they're not having sex_, she thought.

Ryan spoke, "We're leaving in just a few minutes, just give us some time to get our things together," as he walked over to Marissa, smiling.

Theresa saw this and look disguisted. She gave them an annoyed look but they were too busy dreamily looking at each other. Theresa saw it was no use to break up the dream fest so with one loud, exsasperated sigh, she left the room, but Ryan and Marissa still didn't notice her absence until they heard the screen door being madly shut.

"I'm gonna go brush my teeth," Marissa said looking through her duffle bag for her toothbrush. She went in the bathroom, and Ryan followed shortly after.

&&&&

"Here we are again," Ryan said, letting out a sigh of relief since it was daylight and the bums weren't there yet. Marissa also saw this and loosened her death grip on Ryan's hand, and held it more romantically rather than as if she was scared.

They took an empty seat and Ryan started to speak. "When are you gonna call your parents, they're probably worried." Marissa replied with, "When we're not as close to Newport."

"Where should we go next?" Marissa started to whisper in Ryan's ear. His look gave it all away, he wasn't sure, he didn't know what they were gonna do, where they were gonna stay, what to tell Marissa's parents, he didn't know anything except...that he was falling for the girl clutching onto his rom and he would do whatever it took to make sure she was safe from harm.

"Do you have any other friends we can stay with?" she asked. She sounded hopeful but a part of her wanted him to say no. If they were anything like Theresa...well that explained it all.

Ryan did have some other friends he could stay with, but his 'friends' would do anything to get a finger on Marissa, so he shook his head and gave her a small smile.

Her heart fluttered and rose right out of her chest. She was in heaven when she saw him smile, even if it was a small one.

A group of boys, college most likely, walked by, talking about Long Beach. Ryan and Marissa looked at each other; Long Beach. So they hopped on the 8:45 bus and it took them to Long Beach. Luckily, the bus in the day didn't have as many passengers, but it still had it's share of weirdos.

A little old man came over to them and smiled his toothless smile. Marissa tried to return the gesture without seeming like she was scared, but it was hard since she was scared. The little old man started to speak about 'Teloula', his wife. Ryan and Marissa tried to listen, but couldn't understand a word he was saying, but they nodded politeley. After a while, the little old man asked them if they wanted to meet 'Teloula'. Of course they did, the man had been talking about her for the past hour. Marissa looked around, wondering which one was Teloula. The man put a hand in his pocket and pulled out a small white mouse with a piece of fabric over it, but the brown spots were evident.

"Meet Teloula!" he said happily, dangling the mouse by it's tail. Marissa squealed in horror, partly because someone had married a mouse, and partly because it's eye was blooshot pink and it had brown stains all over it, and buried her self in Ryan's arms.

"We're trying to make kids, but I can't produce so we're gonna have to find Teloula a nice man friend," the man continued happily.

Marissa pushed the mouse out of her sight, and the man put it back in his pocket.

"She's allergic," Ryan lied, his eyes still wide from horror.

"Oh," the old man nodded understandily and moved up a few seats, "Wouldn't want you getting sick now would we?" he finished, turning around and started to talk to the mouse.

"Oh my god!" Marissa exclaimed in a loud whisper. "Shhh," Ryan smoothed her over and pulled the string on the bus, signaling to stop soon. The bus stopped right near a hotel, thank goodness! As they walked by, the little old man with the mouse started to speak.

"Bye, nice meeting you nice folks, and good luck on your jurney, say bye Teloula," he spoke to the mouse. Ryan gave him a nod of his head, saying nice to meet you too, and Marissa quickly turned around and gave him...them a small smile, and walked off, clutching on to Ryan's arm tightly.

When they finally got off the bus, Marissa let go of her death grip on Ryan's arm once again and gently grabbed his hand. The air was refreshing, after being in a bus long enough, the fumes really started to get to you, so they both took a few deep breaths and started to walk off to the hotel.

"How many rooms?" the scruffy old man at the comfort inn asked.

Ryan and Marissa looked at each other, "One," Marissa said smiling, and stole a quick glance at Ryan to see him smiling shyly at her. Ryan paid the old man, while Marissa grabbed the key and gave Ryan's hand a quick squeeze before dragging him up to their room.

Once they got inside, Marissa set their bags down, seeing as Ryan was holding a few containers of take-out. Seems they had a little burger joint here as well. She inspected the inn. A mix of yellow and beige walls, a small T.V., a small cherry wood furnished dresser, a door that lead to the bathroom, a huge mirror that lay in the middle of one of the four walls, and a bed right in the middle, with a green and flowery comforter. The sun shone brightly through the dusty horizontal blinds, so the room would look better in daylight.

Ryan set the containers down on the bed and Marissa plopped down next to them, opening them fiercly and popping a few chicken fingers in her mouth. Ryan watched her, amused. After a few more bites, Marissa caught Ryan's stare.

"What?" she asked innocently, taking a huge bite of the burger.

"Nothing," he said, chuckling and shaking his head. He took a seat on the bed as well and opened a container. "I'm welly hungy," Marissa explained.

As they were eating, they tried to keep a conversation, but saw it was hard since Marissa either spat out each word and Ryan ended up getting food on his face, or she wasn't capable of coherntly speaking and Ryan had to squint his eyes to try and read her lips. So they decided on a comfortable silence. Once they were done, Marissa threw out the containers and when she turned around she saw Ryan laying down on the bed, head over his crossed heads, she smiled and went over to him.

She didn't exactly know what to do with him. Well, she know what she wanted to do to him, but she didn't know how to exactly approach him. She was done being the safe girl, she wanted to be the girl that pushed him down on the grass with her like she had done so many years ago. She made a bold move.

She walked over to him as he started to speak, "Won't your parents be worried?" he asked, having a major concern for her in case she got in trouble, and knew that somehow it would be blamed on him. Marissa grabbed him by his wifebeater and brought him to his feet. He seemed surprised at her actions.

"I'm not thinking about my parents right now," she said seductively, pulling harder on his wifebeater so he could come closer to her.

"Well neither am I, but I'm..." but he didn't have a chance to finish as Marissa caught him off guard with her lips. As soon as their lips touched, Marissa wasn't so rebellious and bold anymore, she felt her knees go weak and his strong arms wrap around her waist. He pushed her against the wall, passionately kissing her. "I'll...make...something...up" she told him in between kisses. He grunted in response as she pushed him off her and down on the bed.

She quickly eased herself on top of him and they continued to kiss. They kissed with so much heat and passion that they forgot everthing and everybody else, it was just Ryan and Marissa.

After quite some time, things had begun slow down a little, and nowhe was on top of her, teasing her with the pace of his tounge. As Ryan held himself on top of Marissa, she rubbed her hands against his flexed biceps. His lips finally withdrew from hers, but not from her body, he tickled her neck with his sweet kisses, but somehow his lips were mostly drawn to her lips, she left his muscles and cupped his face and drew her lips to his, smiling. He kissed back, also in a smiling mood. They both got lost, lost in each other, lost in the other's presence, and now, problems that seemed so big a few hours or days ago seemed minor at this time. Now, for the time being, there was no problems in the world, at least not in RyanMarissa world.

_A/N-Okay so what do you think. I hoped you liked it and I didn't disappoint you. I know Theresa is nicer on the show, but to tell you the truth, I don't like her, I mean she took Ryan away from his home, which in return made Seth run away and Marissa start drinking again. Anyways, I hate her, but don't worry, she's not coming back. Things were starting to get a little hot and heavy at the very end, so it might continue onto the next chapter. Hmmm. Also, this might sound a little strange, but I really want to put in some sort of song in the next chapter. I got the Jessica Simpson 'In This Skin', not too long ago and I've been listening to it, and I really like the songs and I wanna use one, so if you guys have any idea which one I should choose, or have any lyrics that you want me to use, please tell me! Just give me the name of the song and artist/band and I can find the lyrics to it like on or something like that. They might do something they regret -coughs- physically coughs not at first, but their 'recklessness' might catch up with them. I like them on their own, but a little part of me wants them to go home, if you have any ideas, they would be greatly appreciated. Let me know about the song thing though. The sooner you review, the faster I'll update. Damn that was way too long._


	6. Sweetest Sin

Sweetest Sin

Summary- Well, the title says it all.

Disclaimer- I own nothing, just this story, and I don't own the song either, belongs to Jessica Simpson and her 'posse', or 'crew', record label, whatever.

_A/N- I'm back with the sixth chapter. Thanks for the ideas for the song. I had kinda narrowed down my choices to 'Forbidden Fruit', which kinda had a lot to do with the same title, 'Forbidden Flower', 'Forbidden Fruit', get it, but the lyrics didn't have to do anything with the purpose of this chapter, and since the lyrics go on here and not the song so... my other choices were 'Sweetest Sin' and 'BE' and I personally like 'BE's 'tempo' better, but like I said before, lyrics go on here and 'Sweetest Sin' lyrics make more sense so I hope you guys like it and aren't disappointed. And the thing with Teloula was just something funny I thought of, my brother was watching some type of cartoon with mice, so I incorporated in the story somehow, with the little old man and they were married, strange I know, but it was kinda funny, at least for me. Hope the chapter is long enough. Also, the song won't go on for the whole chapter._

On with the story...

_Can you imagine us making love  
The way it would feel the first time that we touch  
Can you think of it the way I dream of it  
I want you to see it like I'm seeing it It's a picture of perfection  
The vision of you and I_

Things were starting to get pretty hot and heavy between Ryan and Marissa. Ryan's arms were wrapped around her waist, just slightly under her shirt and Marissa's hands were lightly gripping his biceps. Her hands slowly started to move from his biceps to his belt. Ryan felt her hands wandering down his body and he opened his eyes. Marissa felt his tension so she just kept her hands on his belt, lightly touching it. Ryan didn't know she wanted to go this far, not that he was complaining, but he didn't want to do anything he or she would regret later on. He continued to kiss her and slid his hands up a little farther in her shirt, and feeling her shivers, he smiled and tickled her sides. She smiled as well and kissed him even harder.

_Your lips upon my lips  
Can you just picture this  
Your fingertips on my fingertips  
Your skin upon my skin  
Would be the sweetest sin  
That would be the sweetest sin, yeah_

Feeling aroused, Marissa moved her hands from their resting position and played with the loop of the buckle. Ryan took this as a sign that she wanted to move farther so he put his hands farther up her shirt, pulling some of the material as he did this. Marissa finally got the belt unbuckled and started fidgeting with his zipper. So this was a definite sign she wanted to go farther. He brought his hands to the front of her shirt, unbuttoning the few buttons that there were and within a few moments it was lying on the floor and moments later so were Ryan's pants.

_All night I lay awake  
'Cuz it's too much to take  
Dreaming about the love that we can make  
All day I think of schemes  
To get you next to me  
I want you so bad that I can barely breathe  
It's a sign of my obsession  
That I can't stop thinkin' about_

Their breathing was becoming erratic, and heavier like they were exploring some type of exotic place and they needed to breathe, but they just needed each other to breathe. They both quickly got under the covers as Marissa tumbled over Ryan. A soft moan escaped Marissa's mouth as Ryan left a trail of kisses on her neck and Ryan continued to kiss her. He made his way up to her lips and kissed them softly. "I love you," he said parting their lips for a second. "I love you too," she responded truthfully before passionately putting their lips together.

_Your lips upon my lips  
Can you just picture this  
Your fingertips on my fingertips  
Your skin upon my skin  
Would be the sweetest sin, yeah_

Their lips suddenely stopped moving, and both pulled back. It was a simple statement, not a forced one either, it just escaped their mouths before their brains could stop them. With their heavy breathing, they tried to focus on each other eyes. They couldn't see any fakeness in what they had just said, so it was true; Ryan Atwood and Marissa Cooper were in love with each other.

_Your lips upon my lips  
Can you envision it  
Temptation I could never resist  
Your skin upon my skin  
Would be the sweetest sin, yeah_

Ryan put his hand on her bare back and pulled her closer to him, "I love you," he said, his eyes filled with fear to what she would say back to him. She smiled and her glazed eyes soon became clear again. "I love you too," she said before leaning in again and giving him a kiss.

_It would feel so good  
__To be so bad  
__You don't know how bad  
__I want that  
__I would do anything  
__To feel  
_  
Their lips continued moving smoothly, just like a river, smooth and steady. Soon enough, a heap of clothes lay on the floor next to the bed and the only noises heard in the room were the rapid beatings of the two teenagers in love.

_Your lips upon my lips  
Can you just picture this  
Your fingertips on my fingertips  
Your skin upon my skin  
Would be the sweetest sin, yeah_

It had been a tiring day, at least for Ryan and Marissa. Ryan lay awake, pillows propped up against the wooden headboard, and a wide awake Marissa in his arms, slowly rubbing his hands up and down her arms. Marissa felt his dry hands lightly rubbing up against her arms and she would've minded because of the dryness and harshness, but to her they were warm and soft like pillows and if it was someone else she would've minded, but she didn't care because it wasn't someone else, it was him; the one.

_Your lips upon my lips  
__Can you envision it  
__Your fingertips on my fingertips  
__Your skin upon my skin  
__Would be the sweetest sin, yeah_

Marissa had her head on Ryan's chest, and was in her favorite new position, in his arms. She listened to his heartbeat which had now become a lot more steadier then before. She wanted to say something but no words percolated in her brain and her mouth couldn't force anything to come out except a sigh or a breath. In fact no words had been spoken between either of them since the truthful words spoken before they 'made love', and now it wasn't sex, it was love.

Ryan looked down at Marissa, she looked radiant. Her lips were a bit swollen and had the lightest tint of blue, so he gently leaned in and cast a small, soft kiss on them. He leaned back and rest his head against hers, he wanted to close his eyes, but was afraid if he did, this dream would be over.

Marissa looked up at Ryan, his eyes were tired but peaceful at the same time. She cuddled up even closer to him, letting him know she was there and wasn't going anywhere. Ryan understood her message and kissed the top of her head, letting his eyes rest and falling into a deep sleep. Marissa was afraid if she went to sleep, she would find him gone and these past few days had been a dream. She struggled to find something to concentrate on, a speck on the wall, the number of blinds, her hands, Ryan's face, but finally fell asleep with the last image of their interlocked hands.

&&&&

'BEEP' 'BEEP', Marissa's cell phone rang for the fourth time. Eventually Ryan and Marissa were both woken up.

"Good..." Ryan started and looked out the window to see how to greet her, "...afternoon," he said grinning at her, and giving her lips a kiss. The light blue tint had gone and they only remained a little swollen. She greeted him back with a kiss, before the annoying cell phone went off again.

"I should get that," Marissa said, disappointed as she got up and wrapped one of the light yellow sheets around her. She went over to the duffle bag and started to rummage through it, looking for her cell phone. In the process she threw a small pink box at Ryan's feet, he looked at it curiously, wondering if he should open it or not. Marissa finally found it and flipped it open to answer it.

"Hello," she answered dryly.

"Coop, where are you, your mom called looking for you, I told her you were staying at my house but was in the bathroom, now where are you?!" Summer shrieked through the line.

"Oh, Sum, that's perfect, tell 'em I'm staying at your house!" Marissa exclaimed.

"Why? Where are you?" Summer questioned. "Cohen! Don't touch that, it's from France, helllloooo!" she said turning her attention to Seth for a second. "Where are you?" she asked again.

"I'll explain later, okay?" Marissa told her.

"Well are you okay? How long are you gonna be gone for?" Summer asked, concerned for her freinds benefit.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just cover for me till tomorrow night, please?" Marissa begged her friend.

"Yeah, okay, I guess, but guess what I found out?" Summer exclaimed.

"What?" Marissa asked, bored that Summer was gonna talk about some girl who's shoes didn't match with her purse, or had gotten her highlights at some other place out of town.

"Well, Cohen was telling me that his Dad brought home some kid and the kid ran away, Ryan... Ryan something, I can't remember," Summer told her.

Marissa's eyes widened. "Are they looking for Ryan?" Marissa asked loudly so Ryan would look up. At the mention of his name, Ryan looked up from the pink box he was staring at. Marissa put a finger to her lips, telling him to be quiet, and went over to him, cuddling back into his arms.

"No, they said if he was smart, he would come back and they can't count him missing until after 48 hours, 'member?" Summer told her.

"Oh, right, okay, so, anyways, I gotta go, thanks so much for covering for me, love you, thanks, bye," Marissa said before flipping the phone again so it was off.

"They said if you were smart, you would show up in the next 48 hours, and I have Summer covering for me," shee xplained to Ryan.

"Oh," was all that came out of his mouth.

"I'm sure you won't get in too much trouble," Marissa said giving him a weak smile.

"Yeah, I guess," Ryan responded. He kissed her semi-swollen lips and he started to move his feet so he could get better access but pulled away when he saw the pink box there. He looked over at Marissa who had turned a dark shade of pink.

"Can I...?" he asked, moving to get it.

Marissa nodded shyly, remembering what was in the box. He moved until he got it and took it back with him and placed Marissa back in his arms. Ryan slowly took off the top when a burst of smell splashed in his face. It was the...flower he had given her. He was surprised, but a grin came to his face. It's mix of deep crimson and creamy colored petals were still there, and it was very well taken care of, and it's fragrance was still as strong as ever. He carefully took it out and placed it in her hair, and kissed her.

"I think you're the prettiest girl," he smiled as he told her this.

She smiled as she kissed him again, "Well, I think you're pretty cute too," she said in the kiss. They both laughed a little and Ryan wrapped his arms around her tighter as she snuggled even closer.

"I'm surprised nothing happened to it," Ryan said referring to how nothing had happened to the flower and burying his face in her neck.

"True love never dies," Marissa told him truthfully as she fell into a deep sleep again in his arms. It may not have looked perfect, but love was never perfect, especially true love, but to them, it was as close to perfect they were goingtoget, and they wanted to enjoy every moment of this 'perfect love' that they could. They both took one more deep breath, and the flower's smell still lingered in the air, and they knew that this true love would never die.

_A/N-So, how was it? I have been waiting for a while to finally get this chapter up, so I hope you guys liked it. It was a little fluffy I know, but what can I say, I'm a sap fo romance, especially RM romance. I know it wasn't much of a cliffhanger, in fact no cliffhanger at all, just fluff, and I don't know if I've had any cliffhangers in this story, but if you want a cliffhanger, check out my other story, 'Can't Stop Thinking About You', now there's a cliffhanger. I still hope you guys liked it and the next chapter won't be all fluffy but I'll try to put as many RM moments as I can._


	7. One More Day

One More Day 

Summary- The title says it all, One More Day.

Disclaimer- I don't own squat! But have you seen those incredibly cute pictures of Ben squatting? sighs dreamily. I also don't own the song 'One More Day', it belongs to Diamond Rio.

_A/N- I didn't think I was going to use another song, but my Mom was listening to some radio station, and this song is the inspiration to this chapter so I hope you guys like it. Those reviews you guys gave me were amazing- thank you so much! They really made my day so thank you and I hope I get more reviews like that for this chapter. YAY! RM finally did it (at least in my story), and I was glad I didn't make her cry when she said 'I love you' to Ryan, enough with her crying and being such a drama queen. I'm also glad you liked the song, I thought it was fitting as well. Anyways, hope you enjoy reading the chapter and as always..._

On with the story...

_Last night I had a crazy dream  
A wish was granted just for me,  
It could be for anything  
I didn't ask for money  
or a mansion in Malibu  
I simply wished, for one more day with you  
_  
Ryan woke up to a sweet smell in his face. He fluttered his eyes to find Marissa's hair in his face as well as the flower. He moved his head from hers as she quietly stirred, but still remained close to him. He looked down at her, her lips had finally gone back to their normal size and color and her face had a bit of a glow to it. Ryan smiled as he saw her 'glow',and looked around the cheap hotel room. He wished everyday could be like this; just the two of them. Marissa said that he had 48 hours to turn up back at the Cohen's before they went looking for him, so he had one more day...with Marissa.

_One more day  
One more time  
One more sunset, maybe I'd be satisfied  
But then again  
I know what it would do  
Leave me wishing still, for one more day with you _

"Maybe if you tell me where we're going..." Marissa trailed off. "Then it wouldn't be a surprise," Ryan cut in, holding her hand and leading her to one of his favorite spots; even though he had never been there. "My feet hurt," Marissa complained, taking off her flip flops and placing them in her free hand, still trailing after Ryan. "Are we still in Long Beach? We've been walking too much, are you sure?" Ryan gave her a look accomponied by, "You sure complain a lot."

_First thing I'd do, is pray for time to crawl  
Then I'd unplug the telephone  
And keep the T.V. off  
I'd hold you every second  
Say a million 'I love you's'  
That's what I'd do with one more day with you_

Marissa shrugged it off as Ryan led them off the boardwalk and onto the sand. As soon as she touched the sand, she started shrieking and went back up the boardwalk, dragging Ryan with her. He watched her amused as she jumped up and down, complaining about the warmness of the sand.

"I thought you lived in California?" he questioned.

"I do, just not Long Beach," she told him. After Marissa had finally quieted down a little, Ryan started again, "Are you ready?"

"I can't, my flip flop is broken, guess you have to give me a piggy back ride," she told him as a grin came across her face and soon enough, one overcame Ryan as well.

"Okay, hop on," he said finally giving in, still smiling.

He turned around as Marissa jumped on and his hands reached her butt, holding her up, and Marissa's hands went even tighter around his neck, and they walked off into the sunset that was a mixture of reds, oranges and yellows blending into one.

_Leaving me wishing still for one more day with you  
Leave me wishing still for one more day_

Marissa loosened her grip and set herself down from Ryan's back. "Where are we?" she asked. He shrugged but took her hand and led her down to the shore. He sat down, pants rolled up and shoes off, he sat right near the water, just so his feet were touching. Marissa joined him, setting herself in his arms, to which he gratefully accepted her.

"It's beautiful," Marissa said, referring to the sunset as well as the deep green ocean.

"I've never seen it before," Ryan told her.

"You've lived in California and never visited the ocean?"Ryan shook his head.

"It'll be the third time for me," Marissa started, referring to her younger years, but then smiled, "Third's time a charm, right?" she asked playfully, gripping his jacket around herself tighter. He smiled as he leaned down kiss her. Marissa quickly pushed Ryan on the sand, so his back was to it and so she was on top of him, and the waves crashing against their tangled feet.

_Leaving me wishing still for one more day with you  
Leave me wishing still for one more day_

Marissa lay in Ryan's lap, cuddled up in his arms, as he ran his fingers through her hair, softly stroking it while she traced something in the sand; something she didn't even know what it was. "I wish we could stay here forever or...at least one more day," Marissa commented.

"Yeah, but then you know what would happen?"

Marissa slowly brought one of her hands up to his face, caressing it, then answered, "We would want one more day"

Ryan moved his face so he could kiss her hand and continued stroking her hair. They continued watching the sunset which was now black with an orange tint still taunting it. The waves were smaller, but they were getting colder. Marissa got up, threw Ryan's jacket farther from the shore, pulled up her jeans to match Ryan's and dipped her toes in the freezing water. Ryan quickly chased after her and saw her bottom lip trembling while she tried to smile at him.

Ryan picked her up and twirled her around as she let out screams and shouts of joy. He pulled her down so their lips met, and he gave the trembling one a tender kiss. She put her arms around his neck as he put his arms on her waist and twirled her a few times, her feet still not touching the water. Marissa grabbed the back of his head with her hands and pulled him to her lips, passionately kissing them. Ryan forgot about the numbness in his feet and focused on the numbness she was casting over him and his lips.

She finally pulled back, "I love you," "I love you too."

Marissa picked herself from Ryan's grip and stepped foot in the freezing cold water and soon enough jumped back on his back again. She rest her head against his as they made the way back to shore, walking off into the sunset that went wherever they went.

Back to where the jacket was, Marissa had traced hearts in sandy letters.

True, one more day would be better but it would only make them want more; more than just one day; more than an eternity.

_Leaving me wishing still for one more day with you  
Leave me wishing still for one more day_

_A/N-Goddamnit! Here, there, everywhere, there is fluff! I just can't get rid of it! But I like it and I hope you do too. This was just another fluff chapter, next one they will make their desicion, go back to Newport, stay in Long Beach, or go somewhere else. See where their adventures take us. I hope it was good- even though all fluff- and not a lot of r/m fluff anymore- so that's sad, but I think I made up for it. Remember to review and any ideas would be appreciated, thanks._


	8. Choices and Decisions

Choices and Decisions

Summary-What will the consquences be for Ryan? Will he be in trouble?

Disclaimer- Nothing that has to do with the oc belongs to me- nothing! Except for pictures I got from magazines or the internet. 

_A/N- I hope you guys like this chapter- its not all r/m- sadly. But they are the main characters of course. Thanks so much for reviewing- I love writing this story and I'm glad you love reading it. One thing though, I said Marissa has been to the OCEAN three times, not the BEACH, so I hope whoever said that reads this. lol. Also, I don't know if Ryan or Marissa are virgins, should I make them or not. It doesn't really matter in the story, since I hate both Luke and Theresa (Luke in the story- on the show, not so bad, Theresa- on the show and in the story), so don't think it's gonna come up, so you can make them whatever, let me know in your review and I'll tell you in the next chapter. And majority rules! lol. Enjoy! There are some other characters in this chapter. I'll make it as long as possible._

On with the story...

Ryan awoke with Marissa in his arms again. He wished it could always be like this; skip everything and forget everything besides each other. But he knew she had people who cared and would worry about her, him on the other hand, he didn't have anyone, except her. He looked at lovingly, taking it all in, her beauty and the moments they shared, before they made their choice to go back or stay.

Marissa felt eyes on her so she opened her half sleepy eyes, and saw his blue eyes looking at her, so she looked at him, curious to his expression.

He noticed eyes on him as well, "Sorry," he said once he noticed her looking at him looking at her (?-best I could describe this). "Don't be," Marissa said as she pulled him into a kiss. He finally pulled back, but his eyes filled with disappointment, "We have to go back."

Marissa nodded lamely and kissed him again. "Even though I don't want to."

"Me neither...but you have people...who care about you," Ryan told her in between kisses, "and I don't...have anyone."

"You have me," she responded. He gave her a smile which made her already melted heart melt even more. "I know, but when we get back..." but was cut off by Marissa's lips once again, "You'll still have me," she saidsweetly and with that, she kissed him again. He knew it wasn't right to set high hopes for himself, or his future, he had been taught this by Trey and his Mom, never expect the best, after all they were Atwoods, but he was a little different, but right now he couldn't help that Marissa would be his future and that they would have a future together.

&&&&

"Is that everything?" Marissa asked Ryan as she took one last look at their 'home' for the past few days. Ryan nodded and Marissa went to him and looped an arm through his and patted her duffle bag as he took they key and they walked out together; hand in hand; and closed the door; the door to great memories; memories that could only be not only be cherished in that room; but with them everywhere in their hearts.

&&&&

"Back to Newport?" Marissa asked dissapointedly. "It won't be that bad," Ryan reassured her; and himself as well.

"But what if they send you somewhere, and we never..."

"It's gonna be ok, we'll make it, I promise."

"Don't promise me, people always break their promises...at least to me," Marissa told him from experience.

"_I_ won't," Ryan told her as they got on the bus. They went to the back, 'their spot', as they called it, and settled in. They were going to be there for a while, seeing as the bus from Long Beach to Newport Beach took at least three hours, Marissa nestled herself in Ryan's arms, "It'll be okay," she said looking up at him. Ryan nodded and couldn't resist a quick smile or a kiss.

&&&&

Ryan and Marissa both saw the gated community. They knew that now they had to face everyone; or at least Ryan did anyways. Marissa pulled out her cell phone and quickly dialed Summer's number.

"Hey Sum!" she exclaimed. "You don't have to cover for me anymore, I'll...um talk to you later, yeah I'll explain later, 'kay?" she said, trying to cover for herself. She flipped the phone again and went over to Ryan as the gates opened and they went inside; ready to face the worst.

&&&&

Ryan had said good bye to Marissa; and a few kisses later; here he was. He knocked on the Cohen's back door a few times before Kirsten ran to it once she saw who it was. She was surprised as was he when she pulled him into a tight hug.

"Oh, I'm...sorry, I'm just so glad you're back and you're safe," she told him truthfully. Ryan nodded his head in response, and Kirsten led him in.

"Sandy's got a late court date so he won't be home until dinner, but until then, you can tell me what the hell you were thinking!" she shrieked.

Ryan sat down at one of the barstools as Kirsten finished making her sandwhich, but gave it to him instead. "Thanks," he replied. She nodded and went back to make another for herself.

"So, where did you go?"

Ryan shrugged and took a bite of the sandwhich. Kirsten gave him a look. "A freind's," he said simply.

Kirsten joined him at the counter and started speaking. "You could've come to us, we would've helped you." "Or sent me to a group home," Ryan's harsh voice replied.

"It's just...well you have no family, well at least around here, what do you want us to do?" Kirsten asked.

Ryan stopped eating the sandwhich and dusted his hands over it. "Nothing! I don't expect you to do anything, you've done enough, but I'm better off on my own," and started to walk out the door. Kirsten grabbed him by the arm and spun him around so they were face to face.

"Look at me!" she demanded, but her voice was still soft. He did as he was told. "I'm not saying we know who you are or what your past was like...".

Ryan cut her off, "That's right, you don't!"

"But we want to help you as much as we can," she spoke softly.

"Then I think it's best if I go," he replied quietly.

"No, it's best if you stay. I hired a detective to look for your Mother..." Kirsten started but Ryan cut her off again, "Dawn," he replied coldly, not looking her in the eye.

Kirsten saw what he was getting at so she went along, "I hired a detective to find...your Mother, and they have a few leads, and a location, so they'll be contacting us soon," she told Ryan.

Ryan sat down again and started, "What if I don't want her to be found?"

Kirsten had a puzzled look, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I don't want. Her. To be a part of my life, not anymore." Ryan told her.

"You're 16..."

"17," Ryan corrected.

Kirsten started again, "You're 17, you don't know what you want."

"I know what I don't want," his voice getting colder.

The phone rang. Kirsten got up, "Go to the pool house, and get ready for dinner, Sandy'll be home soon, we can talk about this later," she told Ryan as she went to answer the phone. He sighed, but followed his orders and did as he was told.

&&&&

"Hey Coop!" Summer said as she bounced in Marissa's room. "Hey Sum," Marissa replied cheerfully. Summer sat down on her bed and looked at her suspiciosly. Marissa noticed Summer staring at her. "What?"

"Nothing, you seem different," Summer responded.

"How?" Marissa asked with a confused look on her face.

"I don't know, you just seem more 'glowy'," Summer said smiling. Marissa tried to shrug it off. Summer's cell phone rang and she got it, while Marissa looked at herself in the mirror. _I don't look different_, she thought. Summer flipped her phone shut and startd talking to Marissa.

"Cohen invited me to dinner with his parents, so you can come if you want," Summer said lamely. She knew Marissa wouldn't come, her and Seth never really talked, unless it was something about Summer.

Marissa thought about this for a second, Ryan was going to be there she thought. She could see him again. "Yeah, sure." Summer seemed confused, but Marissa recovered with, "I don't want to be home alone." Summer seemed satisfied, and Marissa went to go get changed.

&&&&

Ryan was helping Kirsten unpack the take-out containers. The door rang and seeing as Kirsten was washing her hands, she motioned for Ryan to get it. Ryan opened the big wooden door and was surprised at what he saw.

"Marissa?" he asked in a loud whisper.

"Hey," she told him, "I"m here with Summer, for dinner," she said smiling.

Ryan smiled back and Marissa leaned in for a quick hug and kiss. Ryan was slightly embarassed. What if the Cohen's caught him, what would they think? But he returned the kiss and hug. He led her to the kitchen where Kirsten and Sandy were talking in low whispers.

"Hi Mr. Cohen, Mrs. Cohen," Marissa cheerfully greeted them. Sandy looked surprised that Marissa was here and as was Kirsten. Ryan tried not to smile, but it was kind of hard, but at least he tried.

Summer and Seth finally sat down with the rest of them as Marissa made it a point to sit next to Ryan. She glided her chair closer to him throughout dinner, until they were only about inches away; but nobody noticed. With the one hand that she wasn't using, Marissa slowly moved it to Ryan's hand, cupping it in her own. Ryan flashed her a quick smile and pretended to be interested in the conversation, but his palms were sweating and he couldn't really concentrate, except for the tingly feeling running through his body.

The finally finished dinner, after a couple of impressions and impersenations by Seth. Summer asked Seth if he was ready to go to the party, saying, "It's one of the best of the year, Holly's throwing it!" Seth nodded as Kirsten gave him a look.

"Mom! What? I'm only a teenager once, parties are what I do," he said while doing some crazy dance move. Summer added, "Don't worry Mrs. Cohen, I'll take care of him," as she dragged him away, but not before inviting Marissa and Ryan. They both quickly refused.

"Ryan, can you show me where the bathroom is?"Marissa asked, a bit loud so the Cohens could hear her. Ryan gave Sandy and Kirsten a quick look and saw they were talking and weren't paying attention and nodded. He got up and wiped his sweaty hand against his pants and led her to one of the bathrooms.

Once he showed her the bathroom, she pulled him in with her, and pinned him to the tile wall and started passionately kissing him.

"I thought...you wanted to go...to the bathroom," he said in between kisses.

"Not...for...that," she told him. They continued kissing until they heard Sandy call him down, "Ryan? Where are you?" Ryan sighed and pulled back. Marissa seemed disappointed as well but told him he should go. He reluctantly went, but not before sneaking in one more kiss.

"I was just showing Marissa the bathroom," Ryan told them as he walked in the kitchen, wiping off his shiny lips.

Sandy nodded and motioned for him to sit down, as he did himself and Kirsten followed suit.

"Well," he started, "I know we didn't get a chance to talk before dinner, so here's my part of the lecture. That was a stupid thing you pulled, running off like that. The social worker came and thought we weren't taking good care of you."

"Sorry," Ryan responded truthfully.

"Yeah, but now she's gonna be up our ass until they find your Mom, and we have to prove that we can take care of you until they find her," Sandy said sternly. "Seems once you miss the deadline, she doesn't give you another chance for a week, and if they find Dawn by then, then I'll sign the papers saying you don't belong to...the government," he finished sadly and his stern voice softening.

Ryan nodded and gave them a grateful 'thanks' before heading out. Marissa came down, "Where's Ryan?" she asked. Kirsten got a little suspicious look on her face.

"I just wanted to say good-night,", she quickly recovered. "Pool house." Marissa thanked them for the dinner and headed to the pool house.

"Hey," she greeted him. Ryan was laying down on the bed, but sat up once he heard her voice. "Hey," he repeated.

"So what'd they say?"

"I'm staying with them for a week, or less, depends if they find my Mom."

Marissa smiled, so she got a whole week with him. "Isn't that good?".

"I guess, but what if...I don't wanna go back with my Mom."

Marissa gave him an apologetic smile. "So you're not in trouble then?" "I guess not," he answered.

"So you wanna hang out or something, tomorrow, movies, we can go with Seth and Summer," Marissa suggested.

"Okay, if it's okay with the Cohen's, I guess."

"I'll ask Summer tomorrow is she and Seth want to."

Marissa put her hand on the back of his head and leaned in her face to kiss him. Ryan darted his eyes out the glass door to make sure no one was watching, saw no one, so he leaned in as well and their lips touched. Softly at first, but they were getting more intense, so she pushed him down on the bed and climbed on top of him.

They both finally needed a breather, so Marissa took her lips away from his for a second. "I love you," she told him. "I love you too," as their lips were put together perfectly and passionately again. After a while, they thought they heard footsteps coming their way so they quickly fot up. "I should get going," Marissa said.

"Okay," Ryan told her, "'Night," and gave her tender kiss and tried to pull away before he got too attached.Too late, he already was. Marissa pulled away this time. "I'll see you tomorrow?" and Ryan nodded to confirm it. She leaned in to kiss him, but knew she couldn't pull away if she locked his lips with hers, so gave his cheek a kiss instead.

With one last wave, she left and headed to her house as Ryan shut the door and laid his head on the pillows, finding the note he left the Cohens right next to the lamp. He sighed and rolled it up, and threw it somewhere across the room. He knew he could always write another note if he wanted to leave again; but maybe this time I won't he thought. After all, he was going on a 'date' tomorrow, and with the person he loved most, so now, there was no turning back, just looking forward, and to the future, which hopefully meant Marissa, he thought, and maybe with the Cohen's. He smiled as he thought of this and let his eyes rest. He had a whole life in front of him; and it was just begining.

_A/N-How was it? See? It wasn't all r/m fluff, and I had some other characters in ther as well; Sandy, Kirsten, Summer and Seth. Next chapter should be at the movies, with Ryan and Marissa on their 'date', and will SSSK get suspicious ofR/M's relationship? Will they finally tell everyone the truth? Should the detective find Dawn, or should Ryan be sent to the group home in a week? But then what will happen to r/m? True love never dies, and will they find their way back to each other somehow? (watching Dawson's Creek- that was today's episode) What should happen? Remeber to review- and the thing about if they're virgins or not just put it in your review. Be like, Ryan- virgin, or, not virgin, Marissa- virgin, or, not virgin. Majority rules. Hope you liked it- P.S- I know- not very exciting- but the next one will be hopefully and a lot more r/m 'hidden' romance._


	9. Safe In Your Arms

Safe In Your Arms 

Summary- Exactly what the title says, safe in your arms.

Disclaimer- I dont own Ben, Mischa, Ryan, Marissa (same people-different names)...and some other people that I don't really care to mention.

_A/N- OMG! You gys, these reviews have been amazing! Thanks so much! And I'm so glad your liking the story. Everyone wants different things, so I hope this chapter has what everyone likes. This will be their little 'date', and there will be a few more stolen kisses, like the bathroom scene, and you have to read to see if everyone finds out about r/m's relationship and if Dawn will come back. Enjoy! And I might have a little 'surprise' at the end of chapter 10- just warning ya. We'll see what kind of surprises you guys like. Thanks again. REVIEW! PS Sorry if I confused you with the cherishing moments part, it meant that the memories that they had there would not just be there, but in their hearts as well. And the polls are in. Ryan is a virgin, before he lost it to Marissa in the hotel room, and Marissa is a virgin as well, before she lost it to Ryan in the hotel room. And I might incorporate it into the story somehow, not sure yet._

On with the story...

Ryan woke up with a certain emptiness embracing him. He immediately opened his eyes, and looked around the pool house, everything was there, except the one thing he wanted, her...Marissa. He let a smile tingle his lips as he thought of her. His thoughts were interupted when all of a sudden, the pool house door swung open.

Seth peeked in and let out a huge sigh of relief. Ryan heard him and sat up. "Morning!" Seth greeted, looking around the room suspicously.

Ryan got this, "Seth, man, I'm not going anywhere, okay." Seth nodded his head. "Yeah, I know, just making sure. Just stick around this time, for me, for my Mom and Dad, for Summer for..." he continued, trying to find someone else he could think of, "...for Marissa!" he exclaimed, obviously sarcastic on the last comment.

Ryan nodded his head, "I will," he replied truthfully.

"Okay, breakfast is ready if you wanna come inside and join us," Seth suggested. Ryan nodded and Seth left, leaving Ryan alone to his thoughts.

&&&&

"So Coop? Where were you?" Summer asked, sitting on the edge of her bed, painting her toenails. She was referring to the few days that Marissa had been gone with Ryan. Marissa played around with her hair nervously, "Oh, I just needed to get out."

"With Luke?" Summer asked with a sly smile.

"Oh, actually no," Marissa told her, totally forgetting about Luke, "by myself."

Summer seemed disappointed that she hadn't gotten any juicy gossip. "So, what do you wanna do today?" Marissa asked, hoping Summer would bring Seth up, so they could go over to the Cohen house.

Summer shrugged, "We can hang out with Cohen, if you want?"

Marissa nodded her head, trying to remain calm. "Okay, let me call him," Summer said, grabbing her cellphone as Marissa went and changed.

&&&&

"So Ryan, how would you like to hang out with Summer and Marissa today?" Seth asked.

Ryan's head shot up and perked up at the mention of her name. "Sure," he replied, trying to act cool.

"Okay, cool, they'll be here in about half an hour," Seth called out as he went into the den, setting out Summer's favorite playstation game.

Ryan thought for a second, and headed into the poolhouse.

"You guys are late!" Seth told them, checking his watch, seeing as they were an hour late.

Summer shrugged it off, "We're girls," she told him simply, grabbing a controller as they got into a heated game of Tony Hawk.

Marissa watched them carefully and spoke to them in a barely audiable voice, "I'm gonna go the pool house." Seth waved her off, and Marissa manuevered herself out of their sight. She walked into the pool house, not even bothering to knock; why did it matter; it wasn't like she hadn't seen him naked; so if she walked in on him naked, she would be more than happy.

But to her disappointment, his back was to the door, and he was fully clothed, and putting his belt on. She walked over to him and wrapped his arms around him. He was startled at first, but relaxed after he felt the familiar hands. He smiled and turned to face her, and leaned in for a kiss. Marissa smiled as well, and put her hands on his belt, halfway looped. "Having trouble?", she teased with a sly smile, leading them over to the bed. They fell back softly and she played with Ryan's belt, trying to get it out of the loops, as they passionately kissed.

They heard Seth and Summer's bickering and footsteps and Ryan frantically got off of Marissa, and finally put his belt on as Marissa smootehd her hair.

The door opened and Seth and Summer walked in. They looked at them, they didn't seem suspicious.

"Ready?" Seth asked.

Ryan and Marissa nodded their heads, and Summer and Seth started to walk off in the direction of the car. Marissa and Ryan held back and when the coast was clear, they leaned in for one more kiss.

"Later?" Marissa asked. Ryan nodded his head and kissed her once more and squeezed her hand as she squeezed back as they walked off to the car.

Luckily for them, Summer was sitting in the passengers seat, and Seth was driving, so they got in the backseat. They quickly dropped their hands, but Marissa picked his up again, since no one in the front noticed.

During the car ride, Seth kept asking questions, directing them to Ryan, but Summer always cut him off with, "Why do you care? Why is it any of your business?" or "Does it matter?"

But Ryan and Marissa didn't even notice, as Marissa was so close to him, she might've just as well sat on his lap, they smiled at each other.

_Finally_ they were at the movies.

&&&&

During the movie, Ryan snuck his hand over to Marissa's thigh, slightly touching it, shooting sparks of arousal through her body, and his as well. Marissa let out a trembling breath, as Summer looked at her weirdly.

"I need some fresh air," she quickly recovered. She stood up as did Ryan, "Me too," he said, trailing after her. But Summer and Seth didn't hear anything, they were too engrossed in the movie.

Once safely out the movie, Marissa grabbed Ryan's hand and dragged him to the nearest door; which just happened to be the cleaning closet, and pinned him to the wall and madly shoved her tounge down his throat. Ryan was surprised by her straight forwardness, but gladly returned the gesture. His hands slipped to her waist and started going farther and farther up her shirt when all of a sudden, the door opened and there stood an usher. The light made both of them jump back as Ryan quicly pulled his hands out of her shirt, and they walked out with the usher just standing there; in disbelief.

"Can you come over, tonight?" Marissa asked, once they were near they were near their seats. Ryan smiled, "Sure."

&&&&

"Movie was fun huh guys?" Seth asked. They all nodded their heads, as an akward silence followed. "Cohen, can you drop me off?" Summer asked.

"Sure," Seth responded, as he got up from the couch and bid Ryan and Marissa a wave. "Oh and Ryan," Seth added, Ryan looked up, "Just be sure to tell my parents where I went, and don't go anywhere man," Seth warned and closed the front door.

"The Cohen's aren't home?" she asked, a sly smile overcoming her face. "I guess not," he replied, completely oblivious to Marissa's fantasies right now. Marissa stood up and grabbed his hand and dragged him to the pool house. Now Ryan was catching on, and they ran there.

Ryan plopped down on the bed, Marissa quickly followed on top of him. A smile caught their lips as they kissed. Ryan wasted no time and rolled himself on top of her, as she giggled. But soon enough, the giggles faded away and love overcame them.

They made love; again. And everytime they did it, it was just like the first time. Not akward, just peaceful and beautiful, and their heartbeats beating like crazy. It was their first time; and it was with each other. (I incorporated it into the story) They had only had their first kiss four years ago, surely they could wait for each other. If it was meant to be, it was meant to be, right? Seems as though it was meant to be, because right now, they were together, and happy.

They laid there together, Ryan held Marissa in his arms, as they stared off into the distance. Their heavy breathing was making it hard for them to concentrate on anything besides each other. Marissa cocked her head to the side and looked into Ryan's eyes as he stared back. "I love you," she said.

"I love you too," he replied. Ryan rubbed her arms soothingly as they leaned their heads against each other. Marissa looked at the clock, 8:52. She sighed, "I have to go, my mom's gonna freak out."

Ryan nodded knowingly, but was still disappointed. Marissa leaned in and gave him a kiss. "Promise me you'll come by later?" she asked.

"I promise," he stated.

He hated making promises; he knew he could never keep them; even if it was the smallest kind of promise. But he loved her and would do anything for her, and he would keep his small promise.

She smiled and got up and dressed, Ryan did the same. "So I'll see you tonight?" she asked when they were by the door. Ryan nodded and leaned in for a kiss and she kissed back.

Finally, after a few minutes, after a few kisses, Marissa left. Ryan sighed, and looked down to her house, and plopped down on the bed. He took another sigh as he looked at the clock. _Only a few more hours_, he thought.

&&&&

Ryan saw that all the lights were out inside the house and creeped up to Marissa's window. He climbed up the trellis and lightly knocked on the window. After a few taps, Marissa shot up from her bed, realizing who it was as a smile overcame her. She went to the window and opened it to let him in.

"Hey," he greeted her, as they both kissed. Marissa pulled back and went to the door and made sure it was locked and back over to him.

"Hey," she said back, as she got under the covers. Ryan looked unsure, but Marissa nodded her head frantically, saying it was okay. Ryan shot her a half smile and got in. She nestled herself in his arms once again.

"Much better?" he said, a combination of a question and a statement. She smiled as well, and reached over to turn off the lamp. He kissed the top of her head and they smiled once again as sleep overcame them.

&&&&

"Marissa? Marissa?!" Julie asked loudly, frantically pulling and pushing on the door. This woke up both of the teens. Marissa was startled, and seeing as she still sleeping and scared by the rude awakening, pushed Ryan off the bed, as he landed with a loud thud. "OW!" he exclaimed. Marissa tried hard not to laugh, put a finger over her lips, motioning that her mom was outside her door. Ryan frantically got up, scratching the spot on his butt where he had fallen. Marissa shoved him into her closet, and opened the door.

"Marissa, why did you lock the door?" Julie asked.

"What do you need Mom?" Marissa asked, quickly changing the subject.

"I need your lip gloss," Julie told her.

Marissa looked over to her dresser, trying to pick some lip gloss her mother wanted out, so her she would leave quickly. Julie walked inside the room and inspected it. "It smells funny in here," she finally said.

_Shit_, Marissa thought, _The flower's still out. S_he looked over and saw it near Julie. "Here," Marissa said, handing the lip gloss tube to her mother.

"I'll try and get rid of the smell," Marissa lied. Julie nodded approvingly and left, but not before, "It's 7 now, Caitlin, your father and I are going to have brunch with the Stephens." Marissa nodded and closed the door. Phew!

She went over to the closet door and opened it, only to find Ryan looking in fascination at all her clothes. She was somewhat embarassed, she hasn't even worn of them. "Come on," she said, dragging him out of there.

"I should go," Ryan said with disappoinment, once they were both standing near the bed, "they're probably waking up right now."

Marissa nodded sadly. Ryan noticed this, "We'll hang out."

"Yeah, I'll make up some excuse. to see you," she said with a flirty voice, wrapping her arms around his neck, as he wrapped his around her waist. He leaned in to kiss her, and they lost balance, falling back onto the bed. "Okay," he smiled in between kisses.

After a few minutes, they finally pulled back, out of breath. Ryan was almost out the window when Marissa went over to him and bent down. "Feel better", she whispered in his ear, and slapped his ass. He smiled and shook his head, and climbed down the rest of the way. Marissa gave a small wave as he smiled sweetly at her and walked back to the pool house.

Marissa sighed and smiled. She grabbed the pillow he was sleeping on and sniffed it. Her knees went weak even when she thought of him, as she bounced on the bed happily and fianlly laid down, thinking of a way to see him. She defintely head over heels.

Ryan quickly got under the covers, drawing his knees to his chest, and letting out a yawn. Sandy opened the door and Ryan immediately closed his eyes. Sandy saw that he was still here, and sleeping; seeming satisfied, he left.

Ryan buried his face in the comforter, that still had the slightest smell of her perfume. He smiled and went back to sleep, trying hard not to think of her, but she still clouded his mind. Ryan smiled as he knew; once your in love, there's no turning back, and right now; he was in love.

_A/N-So how was it? Sorry for the late update but school is almost over for me, 2 more days. SIGHS I cannot wait! But I'll update soon. And this chapter was going to be longer, but I decided to make that the next chapter, or add into it. I went back to the fluff, but next chapter, Dawn 'might' come back, or a week will be up and the social worker will make her decision, and this is a maybe, maybe, maybe, for some drama, RM might take their realtionship to the next level, even though it 'wasn't planned' HINT and 'happens only to women' HINT 'takes a few months' HINT. If you don't know what I'm talking about, sorry for the bad hints, but I'm still not telling you. It might not happen in the next chapter, but might be coming up...soon. How soon? I dont't know. Depends on what you guys like. Well, I hope you liked it, and as always, review! Thanks._


	10. Intense

Intense 

Summary- 'Intense' could mean a lot of things, so I'll leave it to your imagination, but it's REALLY not intense.

Disclaimer- I remember one female name that is a producer of the OC, Stephanie Savage, I am not her, nor do I pretend to be, so therefore, I own nothing, I can only admire from afar, very far, like 2,000 miles far.

_A/N- Thanks so much for the reviews. And the hints at the bottom at the last chapter, they might not come into the story until later, because right now, I have a plot, a 'dramatic' plot, if you call it. Its totally AU, but the other characters are still in it, but I don't think it will be what you expect. It might not come up clear until the next chapter, it'll be sort of blurry in this chapter,...but it'll do something with Ryan and his 'family'. And this chapter will be long, to make up for the late update. Sorry, but I've been working on the other story, Prom, and have a new one coming up soon after I finish at least 2 of my stories, but now that I know where I'm going with this, I'll update. Um...without further ado..._

On with the story...

Sandy walked into the kitchen, and set his briefcase down on the counter; and loosened his tie even more. Kirsten had just called him and told him she was on her way to pick up the take out; and Seth had gone to pick up Summer for dinner. He sat his hands on the counter when he noticed a faint light coming from the pool house. "Ryan?" he thought out loud. _No, no, that doesn't make any sense, he probably would've gone with Seth, but then who?_ These thoughts ran through his mind as he made his way outside, and slowly tip toed his way to the pool house.

He heard the faint giggles becoming louder and louder. "Ryan doesn't giggle like that," Sandy told himself, then stopped for a second, "Of course I've never heard him giggle, so what do I know?" He kept walking and walking, then he stopped again. _What if it's some crazy people who had no where to go, and they chose the pool house, hmmm_, he thought again. _Or maybe, Ryan's talking to himself, hmm, thats always a thought._ But then a girls voice came in as well as a boys. Sandy was mad as he peeked through the door, but the curtain blocked him.

So he decided to barge in. "What kind of sick bast..." he trailed off and was surprised at what was in front of him.

Marissa was on top of Ryan; snuggled safely in his arms, and her head rested on his chest. They were talking and giggling, as they leaned in every once in a while for a kiss. Ryan grazed her arms with his fingertips, and bent down to give her a kiss. They heard the door swing open, and broke away from their passionate kiss. They frantically got up, getting stumbled in their intertwined legs. Sandy's madness went to confusion; and shock.

"Ryan? Marissa? Together?" he asked dumbfounded.

The two teens stood there; looking at the ground awkwardly. He stepped in a little further, and rubbed the back of his head; confused. He chuckled, "Wow! How long has this been going on?" he asked. "For a week, right, cuz that's how long you've been here," he answered his own question. Sandy seemed impressed at how fast Ryan moved.

"Um...we're sorry?" Ryan offered.

"For what?" Sandy asked.

"Not telling you," Marissa replied.

"It's okay, I understand, you want privacy. Do Seth and Summer know?" Both Ryan and Marissa shook their heads.

"Hmm. Well, wow!" he said again, surprised. "Yeah," Ryan agreed as he laughed nervously and Marissa soon joined.

"Congratulations!" he told them with a laugh as he shrugged his shoulders. Ryan and Marissa laughed nervously and muttered "Yeah."

Sandy hated to be the barrier of bad news, so he told them half the bad news. "You do know that Ryan could be leaving in less than two days if they don't find his mother?" he told them sadly. He didn't want to tell them the rest of the bad news. The detectives found Dawn, and she was coming in tomorrow morning; to the Cohen house.

Marissa nodded sadly as did Ryan. Sandy was going to say something, but Kirsten called out for them in the main house. Sandy held back a little bit; "Are you going to say anything to them?" he asked.

They shrugged. "Do you want _me_ to?" he asked.

"If they find out; they find out," Ryan said sadly, his head still examining the floor.

He hadn't come fully aware of how one week was rapidly becoming two days, then one day, then he would be gone. He wished that by some miracle; the Cohen's would somehow forget that he had stolen a car and swoop in to save the day. But he knew that wouln't happen. Marissa realized how sad Ryan had become since the mention of his mother.

"Okay, well, are you guys gonna join us?" Sandy asked. Ryan nodded and started to make his way out the door, Marissa stopped him by placing her hand on his chest. "Uh, Mr. Cohen, could you give us a minute?"

Sandy nodded and went into the kitchen as Marissa looked at Ryan. He looked back, "I didn't think I had to leave this early," he told her in a sad tone.

"I know, I wish you didn't have to," Marissa told him as she wiped her glazed eyes.

"Me too," he responded as he pulled her in for a hug, wiping his glazed eyes as well in the process. "I love you," Marissa whispered as she buried her head in his neck.

He paused for a second, gulping the muffled sob that was escaping him forcefully. Marissa slowly lifted her head up; surprised he didn't say it back; he always did. She saw that his eyes were glazed and laughed silently, "Ryan Atwood? Are you crying?" she asked in a joking matter as she wiped away the tears that wouldn't come out past his eyelshes.

They rested their foreheads against one another; as Ryan also wiped away Marissa's tears. "I love you too," he whispered back. They closed their eyes tightly, both forcing back the tears that would soon take overtake them.

"It'll be okay," he told her quietly as he reached down and took her hand; squeezing it tightly. She squeezed back; and wrapped an arm around his neck; and leaned in to kiss him. And just like every time they kissed; Marissa felt her knees wobble and go weak. She felt Ryan loosen his grip on her hand and wrap both hands around her waist. Ryan felt her knees go weak, and he loved that feeling; making her do something like that; something that seemed so powerful to him; and he was able to control it. He kissed her harder; his tear ridden face gaining back its normal pink color.

Marisssa knew Ryan felt her knees go weak; she could always feel his arms wrap around her waist right away; as if to keep her from falling in the deep ends of the Earth; he was truly her knight in shining armor. They kissed passionately, and held on to each other tightly; and the rest of the world was forgotten.

Summer and Seth bust their way into the pool house. "You guys, whats taking so long?" Seth asked halfway in the door. Summer jumped back; from surprise; at the sight in front of her. Ryan and Marissa standing in the middle of the pool house; with their arms around each other; and kissing. Seth shut the door and followed Summer's gaze, "Um...that's what's taking so long," he responded, pointing his finger towards the couple who had broken the kiss when they heard Seth's voice. "Wow! Hey! Look at that, Ryan and Marissa...together!" Seth exclaimed happily.

"What's going on you guys?" Summer asked with a mischevious smile spreading across her face.

"Nothing," Marissa replied, "We've just..." she trailed off.

"Ah, so you guys like...an item now or something?" Seth asked, a cheerfullness still in his voice.

"Um, yeah, I guess," Ryan said with a sad smile directed towards Marissa; as Marissa shyly smiled back. One arm was still around her waist, he pulled her in a little closer.

"Oh, my god! You guys are so cute!" Summer squealed. Ryan and Marissa turned their attention to Summer and smiled sweetly at her.

"So, is the lovely couple joining us today?" Seth asked sarcastically.

Ryan and Marissa silently laughed and nodded as they made their way out the door. Seth and Summer stayed back a bit. "Aww, Cohen, they're so cute," she whispered in a squeal, placing a hand over her heart.

"Yeah, they are", Seth now sounded more serious, "But, remember, Ryan's leaving soon", he whispered.

"I know, but..." Summer looked at the two retreating figures, "I mean, it's not like they're serious or anything like that."

Seth shrugged, and ushered her out the door, and put an arm around her, Summer gave him a look. "Oh, do you mind?" he asked sarcastically. "No," she replied, and pulled their bodies closer together.

&&&&

Kirsten noticed Ryan lightly tap Marissa's waist as he ushered her inside the dining room, and pull her chair out for her. _Maybe he's just being a gentleman, she thought,_ but then she noticed his shiny and red lips. A confused expression came over her face.

&&&&

The dinner went by with good conversations and ended just as fast. Ryan was with Marissa at the front door. "So I'll see you tomorrow?" he asked. Marissa nodded and leaned in for a kiss. The kiss was turning out to be more than a good night kiss when Kirsten walked in, "Hey Ryan, did...oh, oh my, I'm sorry," Kirsten trailed off as the two lovebirds broke their kiss. Ryan and Marissa seemed slightly embarassed; they were being caught by everyone today.

"I'll come by tomorrow morning," Marissa confirmed as Ryan nodded in agreement. "Thanks for dinner Mrs. Cohen", Marissa said as she walked out. Ryan looked at Kirsten; "Um, everyone else knows," he told her out of the blue.

"Oh, well that saves the embarassing part," she joked, as Ryan laughed nervously.

"Well, Marissa's a great girl."

"Yeah, she is," Ryan agreed.

"You two look happy."

Ryan nodded a barely audiable 'mhmh'.

"I'm gonna go...sleep," Ryan replied as he walked by.

"Okay, good night Ryan."

"Night Mrs. Cohen," and he leftfor the pool house.

&&&&

Marissa giggled as Ryan whispered something and flipped the channel again, to make it look like they were watching tv. Kirsten came down; dressed but obviously still sleepy. She went into the living room and was surprised to find Ryan and Marissa; kissing and murmuring things to each other. "Marissa! Morning."

Marissa looked up, "Morning Mrs. Cohen."

Kirsten looked around akwardly; "Uh, how about some breakfast?" she suggested.

"We already ate," Marissa explained, "but we made some for you guys as well," she lit up.

_We?_ Kirsten thought, _Ryan cooks?_

"Okay, I'll go eat it then." Marissa and Ryan looked at her weirdly before they nodded their heads towards the kitchen.

As soon as Kirsten sat down and was sarting to enjoy the breakfast, the back door opened and Sany came in. "Hey," he greeted his wife.

"You should really try some of these eggs, Ryan and Marissa are good cooks," she told Sandy as she gulped down another mouthful. Sandy was going to ignore the comment, but then decided not to. "Ryan cooks?" he asked surprisedly. Kirsten nodded, "And suprisingly well".

Just as Sandy was about to say something, the door opened to reveal a disheveled Dawn, with dark blue eye shadow surrounding her eyes; and dressed completely in denim from head to feet. "Hi," she said, embarassed. Kirsten quickly got up, and wiped her face.

"Hi, are you...?" she asked as she shook Dawn's hand.

"Ryan...is he here?" Dawn asked.

Kirsten nodded, "Um, yes, he's in..." but she was cut off by Ryan who had come into the kitchen.

"Hey, is it okay if we...?" Ryan's face dropped as he saw his mother. "Mom?" he asked, both confused and suprised. Marissa felt Ryan's grip on her hand loosen completely and then he let go. He stood there; not making any motion or any signs of movement. Dawn walked over to him; and grabbed his shoulders; "Ryan", she whispered, as she grabbed him more closely and then hugged him.

"Oh, my Ryan," she whispered, on the verge of tears.

Ryan didn't hug back, just whispered "Mom."

Kirsten looked at Sandy who was looking back at her. He offered her a look of sympathy as they looked at the reuiniting family.

&&&&

After they had talked; mostly about where Dawn had been for the past week and how she was trying to be better, and some lunch, they all returned to the living room to finsih their conversation. "Ryan, my baby boy, you comin' back home with your Mom?" Dawn asked out of nowhere.

Ryan looked at the Cohen's sadly then to Marissa; and then shrugged. Anger built up in Dawn as her eyes showed it. "What do you mean?" she demanded.

Ryan stood up as well; following her lead. "What do you mean what do I mean; I mean, how do I know you won't drop me again, or kick me out again?" he asked.

Marissa got up as well as did Sandy and Kirsten as they listened intently to the conversation. "But I've changed," Dawn reasoned.

"Look the same to me," Ryan snapped.

Dawn grabbed him by the arm; and pulled him close to her; raising an accusing finger, "Don't be a smart ass, al'right? Don't think you're better than me kid, 'cuz you ain't," she told him.

Ryan pulled away and mumbled something under his breath. Dawn walked away a little bit but then turned around, as though she was pacing, "You know what Ry? You wanna live with these rich people--" she started then turned to Sandy and Kirsten, "No offense." Kirsten waved her off, telling her it was fine, but Sandy wasn't fine; he stepped forward. "Offense taken," he told her.

"Excuse me?" Dawn asked, hands on hips.

"You heard me, you don't get to come into my house; and then insult me," he told her; angered.

"Who do you think you are?" Dawn asked.

"Who do I think I am; I'm Sandy Cohen; who do you think you are?" he asked, hands also on hips.

"I'm Dawn Atwood," she replied, and then walked over to Ryan; "and I'm getting my kid back from you rich bast--"

"Don't say it Ma," Ryan warned, cutting her off with a sad tone.

"Say what Ry? You one of them now?" she slurred.

"No, but--" he started.

"Tha's right! You ain't! Your an Atwood! Just like me! And you're _coming _with me," and grabbed his arm again. Ryan shrugged it off violently. Dawn was even more angered. "Boy, you better not start with me!" she told him; waving a finger in front of his face. Ryan clenched his fists, his knuckles becoming white while the insides became red.

"Don't!" Marissa exclaimed.

Ryan didn't hear anything but the hurtful comments and his heart just wanted to cry out. He knew he was going to have to answer to his mom once they got back home; but he liked the feeling of having someone on his side.

"What?" Dawn asked.

"Don't!" Marissa repeated once again as she went over to Ryan and put an arm around his shoulders and one around his waist; and Kirsten saw his fists unclench and hang loosely at his side. She led him to the couch and muttered something to which he nodded and they spoke unclearly to the other.

The three adults looked at the exhange between the two teenagers. Marissa continued to rub his back soothingly and rested her head on his shoulder; still murmuring things to him. It was like she was some sort of medicine to him; making him calm again. Ryan finally sat down; Marissa still on arm. With one last glare at Dawn; Sandy sat down as well as the two women followed suit. They all looked at each other.

_A/N-Okay, so that chapter wasn't exactly intense, but had to get the Dawn thing in there. Next chapter should be good because Ryan will make a decision; which will surprise you; and it might not be what you think; and it won't be following the show either. Or if I did, this would end in a few happy chapters; so this way we get some angst as well. Hope you liked it, and I should be updating soon! Possibly by Monday night, maybe even earlier, we'll see, I got 2 other stories I wanto to get finished._


	11. The Right Thing

The Right Thing

Summary- What is the right thing?.

Disclaimer- I'm not feeling particulary witty today, so usual one applies.

_A/N-This WAS supposed to be up a few days ago, but my hard drive was having problems, next day, modem wasn't working, and than that problem at and also, this chapter was kind of hard to write. But I hope you like it. Thanks for such awesome reviews, and sorry if the last chapter wasn't all that 'intense'. I'm ending this fic soon, in a few chapters probably, but I hope you like these last few chapters. Enjoy..._

On with the story...

Dawn sighed again for the millionth time, and was oblivious to the glares Sandy was sending her. Kirsten sat in one of the chairs next to her husbsnd, legs crossed, and back straight up, trying to make herself look presentable, as though she already wasn't. Sandy was slouched over, legs also crossed, and sending glances at Dawn whenever she sighed. Dawn had her face cupped into her hands, elbows resting on her knees, looking like a bored little kid.

Ryan was leaned back into the couch; comfortably, and his head resting back on Marissa's arm which was around him. No one had said anything...and an akward silence filled the space around them.

Seth and Summer were sitting on the stairs, no one noticing them, but they heard the whole conversation before. Suprisingly, they were both being quiet and not making any remarks.

Ryan slowly lifted his head from Marissa's arm and everyone jolted their heads toward Ryan; waiting for his response, or at least for him to say something, but he didn't. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out, so he just left it open.

Dawn was getting fed up. "Come on kid, you were never shy before, what happened to 'ya?"

Marissa gulped as she saw the hurt in Ryan's eyes as he quickly looked down.

Another look was thrown at Dawn, but this time by Kirsten. "Look, we have an empty room, you can stay in there, just for the night," Kirsten offered.

Dawn threw an almost disguisted look towards Kirsten's way, "No, thanks! I don't need your pity!" she retorted.

Kirsten breathed in a heavy sigh and gained composure as she quickly responded, "It wasn't a pity offer, it was..." she started but was interupted by Sandy.

Sandy got up and slapped his knee in the process as he did so, and put his hands on his hips. "It was an offer, an offer, okay?" he explained. Dawn got up as well, "I'm well aware it was an offer, but like I said before, we don't need your pity, we've been doing pretty well so far, right Ry?, Dawn looked to Ryan for support. He shamelessy nodded his head, which was still down. "See!" Dawn stated proudly.

"Now, I appreciate everything you've done for Ryan, but I really think we've got to be going," and with that she went over to Ryan and knelt down in front of him. "Are we going home?" she asked in a childlike voice. Ryan's head was still down, but he tilted his head up and looked his mother in the eye. He shrugged his shoulders slightly which Dawn noticed. She was about to explode with anger, but than thought it wouldn't be very motherly.

With another deep breath, she stood up, wobbling and moving uneasily from foot to foot. "Why not?" she asked, her voice trembling.

Ryan got up and the rest of them took this as their cue to get up as well. Dawn put a huge smile on her face, "You're coming home?" she asked.

"How do I know you won't do it again?" Ryan asked, ignoring her last question.

"I've changed, seriously Ry, I have, and I promise, no more, okay?"

"You said the exact same thing when Dad got locked up and we had to move from Fresno"

"But time changes things..." she started.

"I know!" Ryan snapped.

"You have to trust me okay kid, just trust me," she said softly as she lightly touched his cheek and wiped invsible tears.

"Promise?" he whispered.

Dawn closed her eyes and took a deep breath, but instead of saying yes, she cracked him a weak smile and nodded lightly. Ryan was hoping for her to comfirm it, but she didn't and he hoped what she did was good enough. "Okay," he said sadly. As soon as he said those words, he felt Marissa step back a little and completely loosen her grip on his hands and he felt a distance between them. He looked over to Sandy and Kirsten who had solemn looks on their faces but the put fake smiles on when they saw Ryan look over to them.

"Go get your stuff and thank the Cohens," Dawn told him. Ryan obediently nodded and went over to Sandy and Kirsten.

"Um...you guys, this week has been..." he trailed off, hoping they would understand that this had been one of the best weeks of his life.

"For us too," Kirsten caught on, as she gave him a warm smile. Ryan returned the smile and saw Sandy's arms open for him and hugged him tightly. "Thank you," he whispered. They patted each other's back and broke away. He looked at Kirsten, "Oh, Kirsten's not a hugger," Sandy explained with a smile.

Kirsten laughed, "I think just this once I can make an explanation", and opened her arms. Ryan smiled and hugged her as well, and told her thank you too. He turned his back to them and turned his attention to Marissa who looked like she was about to cry. "I'm gonna go get my stuff," he said, more to Marissa than anyone else.

Marissa saw that he was looking at her, and nodded sadly and walked over to him and took his hand and without words, led him to the pool house.

Once safely inside the pool house, Ryan gently pinned her to the wall closest to the door and planted a kiss on her lips. "I'm sorry," he quietly whispered as he broke the kiss and rested his forehead against hers.

"Don't be," she told him as she brought a finger to his lips and played with the bottom one.

"I am..." he started again.

"You have a lot of things to work out with your Mom, and I can't be selfish and keep you here," she cut him off.

"I know but..."

"Ryan? It's okay, this is the right thing, maybe when everything is worked out, maybe you can come back," she told him with a weak smile.

"I will," he assured her.

"I'll be waiting," Marissa said as she closed her eyes to blink back the tears. Ryan went in for another kiss and Marissa accepted and pushed their lips even closer together. Once the kiss was broken, they rested their heads together again and Ryan spoke first. "Hey," he said softly.

"Mmm," Marissa answered, eyes still closed.

"I love you."

She opened her eyes and smiled at him, "I love you too." Before she got all weepy again, Marissa pushed him off of her, and looked at him, and noticed his choker, and than realized something. "Come with me," she told him.

Ryan looked surprised, "Come where?" he asked.

"Just come with me, to my house, I have to give you something."

"No, no, it's okay," Ryan protested.

"Please?" Marissa pleaded. Ryan nodded and Marissa took his arm and dragged her to the trellis outside of her window. Ryan looked confused. "Just wait one sec," Marissa ordered him and Ryan nodded again. She quickly climbed up the trellis.

She had gone up and down that trellis this past week more than she had ever in her life.

Once inside, she searched through a few small jewelery boxes she had and finally found what she was looking for. She climbed down quickly and spotted Ryan against the the wall of the house, staring off into the distance. "Hey," she interupted him out of his thoughts. Ryan looked at Marissa and offered her a smile, "Hey," he repeated.

He walked over to her as she smiled at him. "Okay," she started out, "I'm gonna put this on you, now don't laugh," she warned him. "I won't," he assured her with a smile. Marissa held out her wrist and took of one of the three bracelets she was wearing and put it on Ryan's wrist. He examined the round blue beads carefully and the tiny red heart bead in the middle of all the rest of the blue beads. "It's those bracelets we found that day," he remembered. Marissa nodded her head proudly, "I still had them, and I wanted you to have one," she explained as she felt the tears escaping her, but continued anyways, "I want you to have one so you don't forget about me..."

"I never will," Ryan interupted.

"I just wanted you to remember me when you look at the bracelet," she explained as she collapsed into Ryan's arms and she started crying. "Shh," Ryan whispered into her hair as he stroked it, "It's gonna be okay, I promise," he finally finished. Marissa wiped the tears from her eyes and looked at him. "You promise?" she asked, putting a hand on either side of his face and resting their foreheads against each other. "I promise," he reassured her.

"I love you so much," she told him bringing him into a kiss as a few tears escaped her while they continued to kiss. Ryan put his arms around her waist, holding her up. As the kiss ended; because they were running out of breath, Ryan wanted to cry out as well, but he just couldn't, he didn't feel the tears coming to him, and he knew why, what he was doing was not the right thing. He lifted his head and planted a kiss on Marissa's forehead. "I love you too." She pulled him into a tight hug, and she knew she had to let go as much as she didn't want to.

"I better go get my stuff," he said sadly, his head pointing towards the pool house. Marissa took his hand and they went to the pool house.

&&&&

Dawn was waiting impatiently for Ryan on the steps of the froyer, tapping her foot on the steps, and watched Sandy roll his eyes towards her direction a few times, when Ryan finally came in. "Finally!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air.

Than right there, Kirsten knew this was a bad idea, and it wasn't the right thing to do.

She walked over to Ryan and grabbed his shoulders, "Be careful!" she told him. Ryan nodded his head and looked towards the door, where Dawn was standing in the doorway, looking almost hurt by Kirsten's comment. "I will," he told her softly. She nodded and and took her hands off his shoulders and walked back to Sandy, almost teary eyed.

Ryan stood there akwardly, and Marissa went up to him and hugged him tightly once again. "I'm gonna miss you so much", he whispered in her hair. "Me too," she whispered back silently. Dawn rudely cleared her throat, "Come on," she said more softer.

Marissa finally pulled back and Ryan turned his attention to his guardians, "Um...tell Seth bye, and thanks, for everything," he told them. Sandy nodded his head, "We will." Ryan nodded back before closing his eyes and letting go of Marissa's hand. "Bye," he whispered.

The cab outside honked it's horn, signaling to hurry up. The noise startled everyone and Dawn got more frustrated, "Hurry up!" she almost shouted.

"Calm down," Kirsten warned.

Dawn glared at her before speaking up, "Don't tell me how to raise my kid."

Kirsten moved up a little, "I'm not! I'm telling you to calm down before you scare him off."

Dawn scoffed, "Scare who off?"

"Ryan!"

"Look, thanks for all your parenting tips, but now is not the time! The cab has been waiting for our asses for 10 minutes, now hurry up!" Dawn ordered, and took Ryan by hand, grabbing his bracelet as well. Ryan winced from the little pain when she pinched his skin, and abruptly pulled his hand backed. Dawn was furious now. "Come on!" she demanded.

Kirsten had seen just about enough. "No!" she announced, "You're not going anywhere!" Ryan turned around and faced her, eyebrows raised.

"What did you say?" an angry Dawn aked.

Kirsten took in another breath, "I can't let you do this, to his life! He's only a kid!"

Dawn started to walk towards Kirsten, expecting her to move back, but Kirsten stood there, hands corssed and a stern look on her face. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means..." she trailed off, looking for the right words. "It means I don't want to live you," Ryan cut in.

Marissa looked at Ryan through her teary eyes, surprised. "So what are you gonna do? Live with these people?" Dawn asked, and evil smirk on her face.

Ryan decided it was stupid what he said, and a part of him regreted it.

The other part?

The other part wished he was anywhere else but here, he wished he was back a week ago, at that cheap hotel with Marissa in his arms. "Yes," Sandy cut in.

Kirsten looked back, surprised. Sandy looked back at her, and walked up to Ryan. "We haven't discussed it, but..." he looked at Kirsten, who showed no sign of regret of his words, "If you would like to stay here."

"Like a vacation?" Ryan asked.

Kirsten chuckled and went up to both of them, "No, like living here", she confirmed with a smile. Ryan looked shocked and surprised. "Seth!", Sandy ordered, "Come out out here". Seth quickly got up from the stairs and joined his parents, trying to keep a smile in. Summer followed behind and stood next to the also very surprised Marissa.

Dawn moved in a little and waved the cabbie off. "You want him?" she asked. Ryan felt like a piece of meat being sold a soup kitchen.

"We want him...part of our family," Kirsten added.

Dawn shook her head. "I'm not gonna protest," she said, surrendering her hands. "I'm not, I know I can't win, and I know he deserves the best, and I can't give him that," she announced. "All I want to know is...is this what you want?" she asked, running a hand through Ryan's sandy colored hair. Ryan looked around the room; locking eyes with Marissa briefly, than turned to his Mother. He shrugged, "Yeah," he nodded. You could see the hurt in Dawn's face, as much as she tried not to let it show.

"We'd be glad to have you," Sandy added.

"Yeah man!" Seth spoke. Ryan rubbed the back of his head, much as he did when he was always nervous or in an akward position; as Marissa had noticed from past experience.

"You be good to him," she told them, which scared them a bit, since it sounded like a threat. "He deserves it," she added, and scruffed up his hair a bit, which made him squint his face.

Marissa silently laughed at his facial expression and uncrossed her arms,wiping away the old tears from her sticky face.

Sandy and Kirsten nodded their heads, and they saw that they yellow cab was back outside. Dawn looked outside as well, and turned back to them. "I'm gonna go, before he takes off again," she explained, slinging her black purse over her shoulder.

She couldn't take it anymore, being in that house, feeling all that happiness, and knowing her own flesh and blood wasn't happy with her, but someone else, she knew she had failed; she knew she had failed a long time ago, and now she knew that at least he was happy. "Bye," she whispered, and with one last wave she closed the front door and got in the cab.

"Um...thanks," Ryan told them with a sweet smile.

"It was no problem," Kirsten said, and pulled him in for another hug. Ryan locked eyes with Marissa and she smiled at him and he smiled back. Ryan and Seth did the brotherly, one arm man hug thing. "Welcome to the family bro." Seth told him with a smile. "Thanks."

All of a sudden, Seth got very surprised. "Hey Summer! You wanna meet my brother, here he is," he announced quite dramatically. Summer playfully rolled her eyes at him, "Hey Ryan," she said with a smile and a small wave. Ryan returned the gesture, and looked at Marissa, almost shyly.

"Kirsten, why don't we go call for dinner?" Sandy asked, getting the verbal hint from both Ryan and Marissa.

"Yeah, you know what, me and Summer will help you," Seth caught on as well and grabbed Summer's arm and led her into the kitchen. Sandy patted Ryan's back and also led Kirsten to the kitchen.

"So looks like I'm staying." Ryan stated with a grin, once they were out of the room.

"Yeah, looks like you are," Marissa said, walking over to him and hugging him again. "I'm glad."

"Me too," and brought his face to meet hers, as their lips connected. He felt the bracelet move up, and how the string was rubbing against his arm hair. "Do you...want your brace...bracelet back?" he asked in between kisses.

"No, keep it, so you'll think of me," she told him.

"I always think of you," he said sweetly.

Marissa grinned before playfully adding, "Then you know what? I think I would like it back." Ryan took of the blue beaded bracelet and put it on her wrist with the other two bracelets. "I'm so happy you're staying," she stated, feeling tears of joy coming on.

"Me too," he replied and leaned in for another kiss. They continued to kiss and held each other tightly. For once, what had been the right thing, had been what Ryan wanted to do.

_A/N-Ryan's staying! Yay! Dawn's not a heartless beast! Yay! So...next chapter should be out sooner. Thanks for reading, and hoped you enjoyed it. Oh, and Alex, did you see that, I added the bracelets in there. lol._


	12. Bear Necessities

Bear Necessities 

Summary- The simple bear necessties.

Disclaimer- I don't own the OC or the Jungle Book, or Mowgli.

_A/N - I know the title is kind of weird, but it's a cute little chapter. Yes, I am ending the story soon, I already know how I'm gonna do it. Some people asked where tha would leave me, well, I can still do the debut, and I MIGHT possibly do the the trip down to Tijuana. Just a question though, should Jimmy be broke? and should Julie want a divorce? Please answer them when you review. But I kind of have an idea with the whole Jimmy/Julie thing, but it won't be as dramatic as the show. And then there's also the Coopers finding out Ryan and Marissa, and how Julie will react. And I'm so glad you guys like that last chapter._

On with the story...

Ryan raised his eyebrows at Seth's defeat and set down his controller. "I thought you said no one could beat you at this game," he stated.

Seth nodded his head and added, "Before you came along." Ryan nodded as well and stuffed a chip in his mouth when Sandy and Kirsten came into the room.

"Seth, can we talk to Ryan?" Kirsten asked.

"About what?" he asked. Kirsten gave him a look that said you know why, while Sandy gave him a look that said 'get out'! "Um...yeah, sure," and left to go to the kitchen.

"Well, we were at child services this morning..." Sandy started, "And we want you to stay with us!" Kirsten exclaimed excitedley, clasping her hands with even more excitement. Sandy rolled his eyes towards her and than looked up at Ryan. "Really?" Ryan asked, hopeful.

"Really," Sandy confirmed, but he wasn't finished yet. "But there's a catch." Ryan's hopeful face turned into a worried face. "Because you're a minor, we have to assume all legal responsibilities for you," he explained.

Ryan thought for a second before speaking, "I can't ask you guys to do that," he told them.

"Well, you're not asking us, we're asking you," Sandy dissmively told him.

"We all talked about it, and we want to be your legal guardians," Kirsten joined in. "But stay out of trouble," Sandy warned jokingly as they all got up. Ryan nodded his head, and shook Sandy's hand. Kirsten opened her arms and welcomed Ryan into a hug. "Thanks," Ryan told them trutfully.

Seth came out, doing some sort of a knee bend. "Dude! You're a Cohen now!" he exclaimed with a smile as they did the brotherly one arm hug.

"Where's Marissa, she'll probably be excited?" Sandy and Kirsten asked.

"Um, she's with Summer, some shopping thing", Ryan explained.

Sandy nodded his head. So that's why she's not here. "Okay, well we have to go back to work, but we'll be back soon, so stay out of trouble!", he warned. Both boys nodded their heads, and watched them leave. They looked around akwardly, before Ryan slinked back on the couch and handed Seth a controller. Seth sat down as well, "I'm gonna beat you this time," he told Ryan. "Mmm-hmm," Ryan said sarcastically. Seth widened his eyes in shock, "Ryan Atwood, are you being sarcastic?" Raising his eyebrows and a quick glance at Seth, he started the game.

&&&&

Marissa poked her head in the pool house, and saw Ryan doing something in the back. "Hey!", she said, loud enough for him to hear her. Ryan's head jolted up and turned around. "Hey". He smiled as he went over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, and giving her a kiss. "Seth said you had something important to tell me, he seemed pretty excited, which isn't saying much, since Seth is always excited, but anyways..." Ryan interupted her endless rambling with a kiss. "Sorry," she giggled.

"Actually, I'm staying," he told her, trying to keep his smile to a minimum, but couldn't help but break into a full out grin. Marissa's eyes widened, "Oh my god! You're staying!?" she asked happily. Ryan nodded his head. "Your staying!" she stated again, almost on the verge of joyful tears. Ryan leaned in for a kiss, and whispered, "I'm staying," softly and her lips met with his as they kissed.

"Hey Ryan, I'm gonna go..." Kirsten started as she walked into the pool house, but than saw Ryan and Marissa kissing. "Um, I am so sorry!" she apologized as they pulled apart. "I'll knock next time," she said with a hint of laughter, trying to ease up the tension.

"Oh, good, Marissa you're here! Actually, the reason I came in was, we need to go shopping," she told him.

"Shopping?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, for clothes, toiletries, underpants."

"Mom! Don't say underpants!" Seth interupted as he came into the pool house as well, hearing the last bit of the conversation.

Kirsten ignored Seth's comment, "And a bed," she added.

Ryan looked suprrised, "A bed?"

Kirsten nodded, "Yeah, for your new room."

"New room?"

"Well, technically, it's the guest room, but we're gonna make it your room," she explained.

"No, that's okay, the pool house is fine," Ryan protested.

"We know," Kirsten started, "but your other room is better."

"No, no, really it's fine...and," but Kirsten cut him off.

"We want you to have your own private area, and this is a pool house, and it's really no problem, it's not like we use it, right Seth?" she asked.

Seth turned his attention to them, "No, except like when Grandpa and his new woman come visit."

Kirstren glared at his last comment.

"But there's already a bed in there," Ryan spoke logically.

"Dude!" Seth exclaimed, in a state of disguistment, "My Grandpa, okay, my Grandpa! Has slept there, with some woman who's like...60."

Kirsten stared at him once again, "And it's a twin, and you'll need something bigger and better."

Ryan looked around and saw Marissa's urging look, "Okay," he said finally, giving in.

"Great!" Kirsten exclaimed. "Now, Marissa, you're coming with us, okay?"

Marissa nodded her head and turned around to face Ryan, "Come on," she said in a playful tone, taking his hand and headed out to the car. Kirsten stayed behind, "Seth?" she asked.

Seth surredered his hands, "Nope, sorry, got a date with Summer," he explained.

"Date? Summer?",she in a curious tone. Seth nodded his head, "I've finally asked her out on a date."

"Why?" she asked, in a tone that said, why now?

He shrugged, "I don't know, just kinda with the whole thing with Ryan and Marissa, like if he left, and all that...got me thinking," he said truthfully.

Kirsten nodded her head knowingly, "Okay, well, have fun."

"I'll be sure to," he said as she left and he sprawled on the pool house bed, thinking. "What am I gonna wear?" he said to himself.

&&&&

"Okay!" Kirsten started, thinking hard, "So the bed's being delivered tomorrow." Ryan trailed behind her, looking around in the furniture store in a daze. "And we'll need some bookshelves," she told Ryan, who looked at her weirdly. "Um...I don't have any books", he told her.

"Right, well, when school starts...".

"School?" Ryan cut her off. She nodded.

"Orientaion is in a few days, so we'll get you signed up, and than school starts a few days after that."

Ryan looked at her again, but she didn't back down, and just stared him back down. She looked around the furniture store and clasped her hands and spoke, "We just need the bear necessities."

Something came over Ryan and he giggled a little. Kirsten raised her eyebrows and turned around from the lamp she was looking at and stared at him, when she thought she heard him...giggling.

"Is somthing funny?" she asked, very curious.

Ryan cleared his throat, and shook his head. "No it's okay, you can tell me," she said in a soft tone.

"Um, it's kinda stupid and childish," he said.

"I've lived with Seth for 16 years," Kirsten said with a smile.

Ryan decided to tell her, "Um, okay, bear necessities?" he hinted. Kirsten still didn't get it. "The Jungle Book, Mowgli...Baloo, bear necessities?" he made himself more clear.

Kirsten caught on and laughed as a few people stared, she put a hand over her mouth and laughed inside her palm. "That was my favorite book and movie," Ryan explained. Kirsten nodded, "I won't tell."

Ryan gave her a grateful look and started to look around as Kirsten pointed things out to him that she thought he would need.

Marissa finally came out of the bathroom. "Kirsten, I asked the clerk where the paint was, he said in the back," Marissa explained. "Paint?" Ryan asked.

"Well, yeah, Seth's room is blue. Do you like blue? We can paint it like a...dark blue," Kirsten trailed off and started to walk away towards the paint section.

Marissa looked at Ryan with a smile on her face, "She really likes to decorate doesn't she?" she asked with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. Ryan nodded and took her pinky and she wrapped it around his and they followed Kirsten who was still rambling.

&&&&

"I think we did a pretty good job," Seth said as he took a step back and admired the dark blue paint in Ryan's room. Ryan and Marissa also took a step back and nodded their heads.

Summer came into the room dressed in overalls, a loose shirt underneath, and a flannel shirt over her overalls, with a pair of flip flops to match her bandanna. "Okay everyone! I'm here!" she exclaimed.

Seth turned his attention to her, "Why are you dressed like that?" he asked.

"You don't like it?" Summer asked, pouting.

Seth went over to Summer and kissed her. "No, of course I like it, it's just a little farmer girl thing you got goin' on." Seth tried to convince her. Summer smiled victoriously, and examined the room. "You guys got it covered, right?" she stated. "So, Cohen, your room, now!" she ordered. Seth obediently followed Summer into the next room, which was his.

Ryan sat down in the bean bag that he had gotten and Marissa followed suit, and sat in his lap. She snuggled up to his chest and Ryan wrapped his arms around her tighter. "Are you gonna be my white knight?" she asked.

"Aren't I already?" he joked. Marissa made a face at him, but clarified himself. "I was talking about Cotillion."

"What's Cotillion?" he asked.

"It's where Newport's most accomplished girls make their debut into society, and you--" she explained to him as she put a finger on his chest, "Are my escort."

"What do I have to do?" he asked.

"Oh, um...just bow down...and than dance," she was hesitant on telling him he had to dance.

"Dance?" he asked.

"Please for me...please, and you can practice at rehersal.".

"And there's a rehersal?" Ryan asked.

"Come on! Please!" she pleaded with him. "And you'll get something after, as a reward," she said slyly, whispering in his ear.

"A reward..." he said with a smirk on his face.

"A reward...you'll just have to find out," she told him and kissed him. "And you'll meet my parents too."

"Your parents? Isn't that a little too much to take in for one day?"

"I love you," she told him in a playful tone and wagged her nose against his.

Ryan captured her lips and kissed her passionately, "Okay, for you," he said.

"Thank you," and kissed him again.

"And I love you too," he told her to answer his earlier statement, as they leaned in for another kiss, and they continued to kiss softly.

_A/N-I hope you liked this chapter. The Mowgli thing just kind of came to me. Thought it was kind of cute, since Ryan is kind of like Mowgli, with the whole fending for themselves thing. If you want anything to happen in the next chapter, which is The Debut, let me know. Please remember to review, and I'll probably update soon! Thanks again for reading._


	13. Debut

Debut

Summary- Ryan and Marissa make their debut into society.

Disclaimer- I don't anything mentioned in this story, but the story is mine, since I do own my brain, and this came from my brain.

_A/N- Well, I said Luke wouldn't be back, but he is, for a short time. Things will go a little differently than they did in the original episode, and things won't be too drastic for Julie/Jimmy, I feel bad for the poor souls, lol. Thanks for all the reviews! And sorry for not updating sooner..._

On with the story...

"We have Gucci, Armani, and Versace over there,", Ryan's 'personal shopper' explained. Ryan nodded his head, 'thanks' and started to rift uninterestingly through the tuxes, going through all the racks. "Hey!" Marissa said as she bounced up to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and giving his cheek a quick kiss.

"Hey," he returned, turning around and giving her lips a kiss. "I missed you this morning."

"Yeah, I know, sorry, but I had to come in early to set up, but I'm here now," she said cheerfully.

Ryan smiled, "Good, than maybe you can help me pick out a tux."

"Be glad to," she said happily, linking an arm through his.

"And I can help you find a dress?" he said hesitantly.

"I already found one...but you can help me fit into it", she said in a flirty voice.

"Be glad to," he grinned.

&&&&

Ryan sat aimlessly on a table, dangling his feet, when Seth and Summer came up to him. "Hey man," Seth greeted.

"Hey," he said back.

"Where's Marissa?" Summer asked.

"Uh, introducing people to each other," Ryan explained.

"Cool, well, we're gonna dance!" Seth said, cracking his knuckles.

"I hate when you do that!" Summer complained.

"Fine," he pouted, and led her to the dance floor, while Ryan continued playing with his fingers, waiting for Marissa.

&&&&

"Marissa!" Luke called out harshly.

Marissa turned around, only to be face to face with Luke. "Hey Luke."

"Come on, let's dance," he said, grabbing her arm. Marissa shrugged him off, "Um, actually, Luke, I have you paired with someone else."

"What?" he asked disbelievingly.

"Yeah, and I have another escort."

"But we were supposed to go together," he protested.

"Well, we're not.".

"Here she comes right now," Marissa pointed out, a girl walking over to them, her platinum blonde hair, and funky wardrobe matching her attitude perfectly.

"Anna Stern? This is Luke Ward, and you guys will be right over here," she said, leading them a few steps from where they were now standing.

"Luke, you know how to waltz, so you can show Anna how," and than left them, going over to Ryan.

"Hey," she greeted, setting her clipboard down on the table, and grabbing Ryan's hands.

"Who were you talking to?" he asked.

"Ex," Marissa explained.

"_Your_ ex?" Ryan asked.

"I was just introducing him and his escort. Why? Are you jealous?" she asked.

"I don't think I should be," he said confidently.

"Quite the confident man we are?" she said with a small laugh, "But you're right, I only have eyes for you," and started to lean in, giving him a kiss. He kissed back when Peggy, the waltz leader,came by and cleared her throat. They pulled back, embarrassed. They both let out small laughs as Marissa played with his jacket collar.

"Okay, do you know how to waltz?" she asked. Ryan raised his eyes in confusion. "Okay,", she started, putting her left hand on his shoulder, "Stand up straight." Ryan puffed his chest out, letting out a deep breath. She giggled, and continued. "Now, put your left hand on my back," she instructed. A sly smile crept over Ryan's face as he raised his left hand and put it right on her ass. "Ryan!" she squealed. Ryan smiled, but left it there anyways. "Higher!" she demanded with another squeal. He moved his hand up a little higher, and put it around her waist. "Better?" he asked.

"Not really," she giggled, "But it'll do," and continued to instruct him through the waltz.

&&&&

Marissa entered the front door of her house, her destination, her room, but something caught her ear, as she moved closer to the loud noises.

"We have a delinquent for a neighbor!" Julie screamed.

Jimmy seemed surprised, "Really?" he asked, getting up.

"Yes! Ryan...Ryan something! Sandy Cohen is dangering our lives!" she exaggerated.

"Well, I'm sure he can't be that bad if Sandy trusts him," Jimmy said slowly.

"I don't care!" she shrilled. "Marissa has been hanging at the Cohen's a lot lately, oh my god!" she gasped, putting a hand over her mouth, "What if he got Marissa into drugs, what if she's high when she comes home, well, no wonder she's been coming home so happy!"

Marissa barged in through the room, startling Julie. "What's going on?"

Julie turned around and put her hands on Marissa's shoulders. "Sweetie, open your mouth." Marissa obeyed, "Why?" she asked. Julie looked around, "She seems normal," she told Jimmy.

"I'm not doing drugs, and Ryan isn't giving me drugs either", Marissa explained.

"Oh honey," Julie said sweetly, patting her back, "it's okay, you're young, and you're a teenager, its normal."

"I swear!" Marissa protested,

"We believe you kiddo," Jimmy said.

"Thanks. Okay, well, I have to go, get dressed," Marissa said quickly.

"Cotillion! Tonight!" Julie managed the words before she left.

&&&&

Ryan was reading one of Seth's comic books on his bed, when Marissa came through his door. "Hey," he said, getting up quickly to embrace her. "Hey." He leaned in to kiss her, and she kissed back, pushing him down on his bed, not parting their lips in the process. "Whoa," he said surprised. She smiled, and bent down, kissing him passionately. He kissed back and let out a little grunt as she kissed his neck, kissing up to his earlobe, and sucking on it. "Are you okay?" he asked, still enjoying what she was doing. "Yeah, fine," she whispered, kissing down his chest, lowering the top of his wifebeater. She couldn't bring down the material anymore, so started kissing up his chest, finally meeting up with his lips, until she pulled back abruptly, and rolled off of him.

"No, I'm not," she said, crossing her arms over her stomach. Ryan was still dizzy from all the kissing, and it took him a moment to process everything. He rolled on top of her, supporting himself with his arms. "What's wrong?" he asked.

She sighed, wrapping her arms around her arms around his neck. "Let's just Cotillion isn't gonna be all that fun, and we'll be getting a few evil stares," she explained. Ryan sighed, and rolled off of her, resting his head on the pillows, his hands behind his head. "Parents?" he guessed. Marissa got up, kneeling on the bed, and than plopping herself on top of him. "Yeah," she said sadly, resting her head on his chest, tracing small circles with his muscles that showed on his forearm. "I'm sorry," she said, putting her chin on his chest.

"For what?" he asked distantly.

"I don't know, I guess I just wanted them to like you," she explained.

Ryan sighed, "Its okay, it's not like any other parents liked me," he said, and finished with a mumbling, "Not even my own."

"I'm sorry," she said sadly, "I didn't mean..."

"Its okay, it's not your fault," he said, unclasping his hands, and putting an arm around her waist.

"I just wanted it to be different, _I_ wanted to be different," she explained, "for our relationship to be different."

"It is," he told her. Marissa smiled; her eyes glazed, and looked up at him, leaning in for a kiss. "I love you, and I just wanted my parents to love you."

"We can't all have what we want."

"I know," she said, playing with his hair. "But I want you, and I have you...and I'm not gonna lose you," she added sweetly.

He smiled, "Its okay, I forgive you."

"Hey!" she said playfully, smacking his stomach. She thought for a second before adding, "Plus, you know, what they say, the sex isn't all that good if the parents approve."

"Right and we all know how good the sex is."

"I like to think so."

"I like to think so too," he said, leaning in for a kiss. Marissa let out a small mmm-hmm, and put her hand under his shirt, lifting up the material and rubbing his stomach.

"Okay! I'm getting Ryan!" Seth yelled; his footsteps heard as he made his way up the stairs. They pulled back quickly, Ryan retreating back to his comic book, and Marissa grabbing something off of his bedside table and playing around with it, when Seth came in. "Oh, hey you guys. Marissa, your Mom called, and she was pissed."

Marissa stumbled up from Ryan's legs, setting down the ball she was playing with, and gave both boys a wave. "I'll see you tonight, okay?" she directed towards Ryan. He nodded his head, and looked at an amused Seth.

"What are...what are ya guys doing?" he asked, arms folded against his chest.

Ryan looked confused, "Uh, nothing."

"Really? Nothing nasty happening in Ryan Atwood's room, and I'm not just talking about the hamper," Seth joked.

"Okay, that's really weird."

"That's okay, just get dressed, we have to leave in like an hour," he said, and than left the room. Ryan sighed, and looked around the room, picking up his tux, and starting to put it on.

&&&&

"Honey? Where's Luke?" Julie asked Marissa. Marissa looked around, finally spotting Ryan. "Mom, Luke's not my escort, Ryan is," she explained.

Julie thought for a moment, tapping her chin, "Hmm, I don't know a Ryan," but than it hit her, "Ryan Jenkins!" she said excitedly, "The one with the father that is Donald Trump's first cousin?"

"Um, no, Ryan Atwood," she said, starting to walk away.

Julie held her back, "I don't know a Ryan Atwood."

"The one that lives with the Cohen's."

"Marissa!" Julie hissed her eyes wide as silver dollars.

"I gotta go," Marissa said, loosening her mother's grip and walking over to Ryan.

"Hey, you're here," she said with a smile.

"Yeah, sorry I'm late," he apologized. Before Marissa could respond, someone was pushing her from behind. "Marissa! You're supposed to be in line, go!" Peggy demanded.

"Uh, sorry," she said, and taking one last look at a highly amused Ryan.

&&&&

Marissa got in line, she was last, and already spotted Summer out there with Seth. Finally, "Marissa Cooper, daughter of Julie and James Cooper," Peggy announced. Marissa lifted the bottom of her dress a little, and walked onto the stage, linking an arm through Jimmy's. He smiled warmly at her, and she returned it, and watched as Ryan approached the stage, coming before them. Jimmy seemed confused at the young man that was approaching them. Ryan bowed down, and Marissa curtsied, and than took his arm, and set down the flowers as they made their way to a nearby corner.

The music started playing, and they took the proper position, and started dancing.

"Fun," Ryan said sarcastically.

"Just remember...after," she whispered seductively. He raised his eyebrows, and smiled at her. "Nice Dad," he commented. Marissa laughed, "From what you saw, you saw that he was nice."

"_I_ was trying to be nice," he explained.

She let out a small laugh, "Than my Mom is really nice," she exaggerated, pointing her finger to a sour faced Julie. He looked at her, and than back at Marissa, "Oh yeah, real nice," he said sarcastically.

Marissa pulled herself closer to him, as Ryan looked in one of the corners, where he saw two men exchanging words. "Hey, isn't that your Dad?" he asked her. Marissa looked over where Ryan's eyes were focused on. "Oh my god it is!" she said, just as Ryan looked back at her, and ran off to help Jimmy, who had just been knocked to the ground. Ryan jumped the guy, tackling him, and pinning him to the ground. "Lemme go! He's a thief! He's a thief I tell you!" the other guy said, and pushed Ryan off of him with a good punch, right in the jaw. Ryan fell back, and the man attacked Jimmy once again. Marissa did her best to catch up to them as best she could in her heels and got to the scene. "Mr. Fisher! Stop!" she demanded.

"Marissa, your father's a thief!" Greg shouted, still punching him. Marissa got frustrated, and lifted up her dress up to her knees, and stuck her heel into Greg's shoulder, pushing him off, and sending him flying across the dance floor. She huffed, and went over to Ryan, who was still dizzy from being knocked out, and was swaying like a drunk. "Are you okay?" she asked, touching his fresh bruise. "Yeah, fine," he said, backing up and flinching.

She looked around the room and saw her parents screaming at each other. "Do you wanna get out of here?" she asked, letting out a huge sigh. Ryan looked at what Marissa was looking at, "Yeah, sure, lemme just go tell the Cohen's," he said, and went over to them, and told them.

He went back to Marissa, who was looking at her feet. "Do you want me to take you home?"

She hesitated, "Actually, can we just go back to your place?"

"Yeah, of course," he said, draping his jacket around her shoulders. She looked down once again, "I sorta broke my heel," she explained, picking up her foot and displaying the heel that was broken in half.

"Do you want me to carry you?" he asked, a small smile on his face.

She smiled weakly at him, "That's okay, I'll just lean on you," and leaned on him, and Ryan wrapped his arm around her back. They started walking away, Marissa leaning her head on Ryan's until about half an hour late, theyarrived atthe Cohen's. They still saw no one in sight, and entered the house.

They started making their way to Ryan's room. "Are you okay?" he asked, once inside. She shrugged, "I don't know," as her lips whimpered. Ryan swooped in and hugged her tightly, trying to comfort her any way he could. "Do you wanna crash here tonight?" he asked.

She nodded, "Thanks," still wiping the tears off of her face. She scooted back on the bed, Ryan hesitantly following. He leaned back against the wooden headboard, and Marissa followed, resting her head right under his armpit. "I just wanna sleep," she sniffed.

"That's fine," he said sweetly, stroking her hair.

"Thanks," she muffled out, wrapping her arms around his upper torso.

"No problem," he whispered back, resting the side of his head on the top of her head.

They hadn't talked on the way over here, and Ryan tried to understand, he really did, he just hoped that she would say something to show him that she actually had something to say, but he'd wait, and he hoped everything would work itself out, just like it had done with his life. He sighed, taking a look around the pitch black room, and heard footsteps all around the house, and they began to fade as he fell asleep, letting his body fall limp next to hers.

_A/N- Again, sorry for the delay, and next chapter will be out sooner, now that I know where I want to go with the story. I already have the sequel planned out, so get your party hats, lol! It'll probably be out a week after this one ends, give people a week to take everything in, and me some time to type up at least two chapters; before the dreaded school starts. Oh, lucky, lucky, me, at least I have like 3 more weeks, plenty of time. Enough rambling and please review!_


	14. Trouble In Paradise

Trouble In Paradise

Summary- A few episodes combined into one.

Disclaimer- Anything I may mention is of course not mine because once again, I am not Josh Schwartz.

A/N- Yes, I'm back, with a new chapter. Pretty long I think, and I hope you enjoy it.

On with it...

Summer was cuddled close to Seth on one of the couches while Marissa was at a pretty good distance from Ryan on the other. Ryan sighed as he looked over to Marissa, who was into the movie. She wasn't into it, to someone else it might've looked like she was, but Ryan knew better.

She had been so different ever since that night of Cotillion or whenever her parents were mentioned. It was pretty obvious that Julie and Jimmy were getting divorced, no question about it, so Marissa spent all her time at the Cohen's. Ryan had tried to get her talking about something, anything, but she always made up an excuse that she wasn't feeling up to it or just didn't want to talk about it.

Marissa caught Ryan's glance and looked at him. "What?" she said softly.

Ryan shook his head, "Nothing," and returned his attention back to the movie.

In about the middle of the movie, Summer and Seth start going at it, leaving a disguisted Ryan and Marissa awkwardly watching the movie in between loud smacks. Ryan got up and went into the kitchen, opening the fridge and getting something to drink. Marissa followed and he got a drink for her as well. After a few sips, Marissa finally broke the silence.

"You know? We used to be like that."

"Yeah, I know," Ryan said quietly, taking another sip and than going back into the den. Feeling better that Seth and Summer had stopped making out and were watching the movie again, he sat closer to Marissa. He had tried to talk to her so many times, but this was a touchy subject for her and she really was quite emotional.

Ryan's thoughts were interupted when the flickering of lights blinded his eyes. "Grandpa!" Seth shouted, getting up and giving Caleb a hug. Marissa looked at Ryan's expression. Did he even know he was, she thought. Ryan got up quickly and shook a hand with a suspicious Caleb.

"Hi Mr. Nichol."

"You're the boy my Ki-Ki adopted aren't you?" Caleb asked.

"Yes, sir, Ryan Atwood."

Giving him a once over look, Caleb returned back to his conversation with Seth.

"So where's my new Grandma?" Seth excitedly asked.

Caleb chuckled and pointed towards the pool. "She's just my girlfriend not your new grandma." He paused before looking over his shoulder to see Sandy and Kirsten come into the house. Grabbing a bag of coal, he handed it to Ryan and motioned for him to take it out into the back. Ryan grunted as he hoisted it up over his shoulder and walked out back with it, Marissa and Summer following.

As Ryan got closer to the grill, he spotted a figure coming out of the pool. _I do not need to see an old lady coming out of the pool,_ he thought. But when the "old lady" got into a better view, Ryan's mouth dropped. He threw the bag of coal over on the grill and concentrated on the woman coming out of the pool. Seth came up behind him, patting his shoulder and than taking in a sharp breath. "Whoa! Check. Out. My new grandma," he stated breathlessly.

Summer heard this and punched him in the arm, sending him flying about five feet. "Hi, I'm Gabrielle," the turqouise clad model greeted, putting a towel over herself.

"Seth Cohen, and that's Ryan over there," Seth explained, pointing over to Ryan. Gabrielle nodded her head and walked past Ryan, brushing an innocent shoulder with him. "Cute," she stated, and with not another look back, walked inside the house.

Ryan and Seth both felt pinches on their arms and looked at their girlfriends. "You're such pigs!" Summer stated.

"What? Why?"

"Oh look at me, I'm Gabby, and I have the largest implants in the world," Summer mimicked, walking around in a circle.

Seth let out a few short breaths before not knowing what to do, and just ended up giving Summer a kiss.

"Okay, you're forgiven for staring at that whore," she admitted, as they ran back to his room.

Ryan looked at Marissa and gave her a cheeky smile. "Am I forgiven?" he asked slyly, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Yeah, sure whatever."

He knew that she didn't mean it and started to walk back into the poolhouse. "Hey, where are you going?" Marissa asked, grabbing his arm and spinning him around.

"Why? Do you care or something?" he retorted.

Marissa looked strangely at him. "Of course I care about you."

"Well you sure haven't been acting like it."

"Just because we haven't had sex in like...a week, you think I don't care about you. I do, but if you haven't noticed my parents are getting a divorce! So excuse me if I'm not the happiest person in the world!" She started to walk away.

"Marissa!" Ryan called out.

"No Ryan! Go have fun with that whore!"

"You know? I should take that offensively, but I don't," Gabby walked out of the main house and ran her fingers across his chest.

"That's nice," Ryan absentmindely responded.

&&&&

"Hmm, looks like I beat him again, do you have anything else that's a little harder?" Gabby asked, referring to the video game she had been playing for the last half hour.

Seth got up and looked at it. "Ryan? This is what you've been playing? A monkey could play this game," Seth stated and walked out of the pool house where him, Ryan and Gabby were all seated one way or another.

Ryan continued to flip through the pages of the comic book, not paying attention to Gabrielle's longing stares. "You know..." she started to say, getting closer to him.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorta bored."

"Than...uh go to sleep or something." He just couldn't get Marissa out of his head. Even though she was mad at him and he was supposed to be mad at her, he just couldn't, he loved her too much.

"Actually..." she started sliding her hand up his leg and stopping right near his inner thigh, "I wanna be bored with you."

Ryan started to get nervous. "Uh? You do know I have a girlfriend, right?"

"And I have a boyfriend...they never have to know," she whispered seductively.

"I can't," he stated, starting to get up. "I can't do that to her, or to our relationship."

She scoffed. "What relationship? A little stupid high school romance? Do you really think that's gonna last?"

A look of surprise clouded Ryan's face. Were they going to last? If so, for how long? "I, I...I go...gotta go," he stumbled over his words and high-tailed it out of there.

&&&&

Ryan stopped right outside of Marissa's room. He saw the lights on and swiftly made his way up the trellis. "Marissa, I..." he stopped mid sentence when he saw not that Marissa was standing there, but instead Julie Cooper. He fully went inside, swinging his leg over the ledge and tried not to make any sudden movements.

"You better watch it!" Julie yelled. "Pilates may not look like it hurts, but it sure as hell does!"

Ryan looked confused, "I'm um..."

"Mom! I got the..." Marissa sulked her way into the room but froze when she saw Ryan. "Ryan!" she yelled in a mixture of happiness and surprised. "What are you doing here?!"

"I'm sorry to interupt this oh so beautiful moment," Julie said sarcastically, "but who are you?"

"Mom? This is..." Marissa walked over to Ryan. "This is Ryan."

"Oh the boy from Chino...I'm sorry I didn't recognize you without your gun and gang in view."

"Um, I don't run in a gang and I've never touched a gun before."

"Oh well, good to know." She paused, looking at the two of them and catching on to why he was there. "Oh Marissa," she said taking in a sharp breath. "Don't tell me..." she took another breath again. "Don't tell me that you two are..."

"What is going on here!?" Jimmy yelled as he stormed into the room. "It's night, we're all supposed to be sleeping!"

"Oh calm down caveman, not everyone sleeps at 10," Julie waved him with a newly manicured hand.

"Marissa, what is a strange boy doing in your room?" Jimmy asked.

"Dad, you remember Ryan...from Cotillion?" Marissa told him.

"Oh right."

"I uh...just..." Ryan was at a loss for words. "I just wanted to talk to Marissa."

"Are you two dating?" Jimmy asked.

"Marissa!" Julie gasped, "What about Luke?"

"Me and Luke are done."

In a huff, Julie left the room. Jimmy extended his hand for Ryan to shake. "Welcome to the family," he said with a grin.

Ryan seemed confused but shook Jimmy's hand anyways. "So...Ryan, if you're not busy tomorrow, would you like to join us for dinner?" Ryan seemed surprised by his niceness but nodded his head anyways. "Sure, but actually, I'm um...Mr. Nichol's birthday is tomorrow and I sorta have to be there."

"Oh okay, well another day than, night kids." Jimmy than left the room.

Ryan turned to face Marissa, "I thought you said your parents didn't like me?" he questioned.

"I guess my Dad does. What are you doing here though?" She smiled and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

"Oh..." He said with a shy smile, "I don't know, I just sort of acted up I guess before and I wanted to apologize."

"Apologize for what?"

"For earlier, with Gabrielle...and all, so...uh sorry."

"Oh? Well that being the only apology I've ever recieved from a boy, It was also the nicest, so I accept." She said with a smile. She seemed so much happier than before.

He smiled and leaned into kiss her softly. She returned the kiss and started to move over to her bed. "Uh not while your parents are here, okay?"

Marissa seemed disappointed but nodded anyways and gave him one last kiss. "Aren't you gonna use the front door?" she asked with a slight smile, seeing as he was going out the window.

He smiled, "No, I'm good. See you tomorrow." She watched him go down the trellis when about halfway down, he stopped and looked up. "Night."

She couldn't help but smile and blew him a sweet kiss. "Night." She watched him jog back to his house and got into bed shortly after.

&&&&

"You know? The offer still stands if you want to," Gabrielle came into the view as Ryan was looking for Marissa the night of the party.

"Thanks but I'm good," Ryan replied. He spotted Marissa walking back across the driveway and left a very horny Gabrielle all to herself.

"Hey, you're early," Ryan greeted, giving her a quick peck on the lips. Marissa smiled and wrapped an arm around his waist. "Great party!" she said sarcastically.

"It wasn't a party until you showed up," he said sweetly. Marissa smiled again and took him by the shirt, walking backwards. "Come on."

"Where?"

"Just follow me."

About halfway to the pool house, Julie stopped Marissa and made her shake hands with a man in his early 20's. "Marissa? This is Peter...he works as a financial planner." "Maybe you'll have better luck with one than I did with you father," she muttered under her breath.

Ryan got what Julie was trying to do and he tried not to let it get to him. "I'm gonna be in the pool house, okay," he said, letting go of Marissa's hand and walking away.

"No...wai..." Marissa caught her breath. Her mother was looking at her expectantly and motioned for her to talk to Peter.

"Hi," she said dryly. Peter have her a warm smile. "Hi."

"Peter, tell Marissa all about your summer," Julie urged.

"Oh right..." Peter started to tell about his summer backpacking through Europe while a bored Marissa nodded off.

In about 20 mintutes, Julie had become bored as well and had left Marissa and Peter alone. "That sounds really great, nice meeting you," Marissa cut him off short and started to sprint towards the pool house. She opened the door silently, only to find Ryan with his head down, his eyes closed and listening to an IPod. "Ryan..." she whispered. "Ryan..." she whispered again, going over to him and saw that he had fallen asleep. Lifting the bottom of her dress up a little, she got on top of him, straddling his waist.

He got up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and surprised to find Marissa on top of him. "Hey, sorry about," she rolled her eyes, "My mom..." she rolled her eyes again. "You get the point."

Ryan smiled and leaned into her, wrapping his arms around her waist. "You know...the party's still in full swing...and no one's gonna really notice that we're gone..." she said in a flirty tone, getting off his lap and pushing him back onto the bed.

He laughed but stopped when Marissa crawled up to him, and put her lips against his, hard. He kissed back and ran his fingers up and down her thighs and lifting up the bottom of her dress. Marissa dug her knees on either side of him on the bed as Ryan continued to struggle with the tie in the back. Finally untying it, he felt Marissa's lips detach from his and move across his jaw over to his neck. He let the ties dangle across his face and was about to roll on top of her when the pool house door swung open.

There stood a very surprised Gabrielle. "Oh um...I'm sorry," she said quickly.

"Oh...um..." Ryan and Marissa muttered simotaneously.

"Right." With a double look at both of them, she left in a hurry.

"What...?" Marissa started to say but was cut off by Ryan who rolled on top of her and kissed her with such a built up passion. She smiled brightly and for now...she knew everything was gonna be all right.

&&&&

"Summer!" Seth yelled furiously throughout the Cohen household.

"Cohen! Get over your mood!" Summer retorted.

Sandy was trailing after them, rubbing his forhead. They had given him such a headache since 7 AM this morning. "Are you sure you two will be all right with them?" he turned around and faced Ryan.

Ryan looked at Seth and Summer who were screaming at the top of their lungs. "Uh...yeah, we'll be fine."

"Okay, if you say so...Seth Summer! Come on! Hurry up!" Sandy shouted.

Seth tore his eyes from Summer and looked at his Dad. "Oh, Ryan, Marissa, you guys ready?" he asked in a calm voice.

"Yeah Seth we are," Ryan replied.

"Okay than! Let's get this show on the road!"

Summer rolled her eyes but picked up her bags anyways and waddled to the front door, her bags tightly in her hands.

"Ready to go?" Ryan asked Marissa. She nodded and watched as Ryan take a few of her bags and some of his own. She smiled and nodded, following him out the door.

They were going to Tijuana for the weekend before school started, just for one last chance at fun. Ryan was especially excited, he had never been there. He was even happier that Marissa opened up to him more over the past few days. That was all he wanted in the first place, and she seemed to be handling the situation better and even the mention of her parent's divorcing didn't set her into tears anymore.

"Okay, be careful...don't talk to strangers, don't hitch hike...and uh..." Kirsten trailed off. "Am I forgetting something?"

"Yeah! How about have fun?!" Seth cut in. Kirsten smiled at the four teenagers, "Yeah, have fun as well."

"All right...peace!" Seth called out to his parents and getting in the car.

"Peace!" Sandy called back out.

All of the kids said their good bye's to Sandy and Kirsten and than Seth started to drive off. "We're gonna have fun this weekend? Right?" Ryan asked.

Marissa nodded and scootched over to him more, licking her lips and than planting a big one on him. Ryan smiled and held the water bottle up to her. "I was gonna ask you if you wanted water for your dry lips...but I like this option better." She laughed. "Me too," and leaned into kiss him again.

SOME NEWS

Okay, so as this fic went on...I got a great idea, but than I decided not to go along with it...so I was ending it there. Next chapter will be the last chapter, than the sequel OR another option is to continue how I was going to and make this fic even longer. The second option has lots of Dawn drama I guess you could say...as well as the Cohen's...so tell me what you want and I'll go with it. And um...next chapter...Marissa and Ryan will have a conversation that really describes how Marissa feels. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!


	15. Our Love Is Like the Forbidden Flower

Our Love Is Like the Forbidden Flower

Summary- The last chapter

Disclaimer If it was mine, its not so lets just leave it at that.

A/N- Aww, my last chapter you guys! And yeah, I know that last chapter kinda jumped from scene to scene, nor have any scene dividers, so I'll fix that. Last chapter! Enjoy!

On with it...

"Aww!" Summer mused, looking over at Ryan, who's head was laying on Marissa's chest as they slept in the backseat of the car. "They're so cute!"

"Summer? Shh!" Seth demanded. "I can softly hear the music if you keep quiet."

Summer rolled her eyes and looked at a nearby car that was zooming past them. "Could you please go any faster?" she asked irratbly.

"No!" Seth snapped. "I'll travel at the speed I feel comfortable with."

"Well, I'm not comfortable with this speed!" she defended, taking control of the steering wheel as Seth slapped her hands away. "You're swerving!" he yelled in her ear, causing her to jerk back, taking the steering wheel and snapping it slightly as they finally swerved into a ditch.

Throughout this, Ryan and Marissa had woken up and were holding onto each other for dear life, Marissa letting out small squeaks. Seth finally relaxed into his seat, Summer holding the steering wheel in her hands. "Uh...oops!" she laughed awkwardly. "PMS," she explained.

"Excuses, excuses," Seth chipped in sarcastically.

---

"Cohen! I don't even want to talk to you right now!" Summer yelled into the phone, slamming it down on the bed. Marissa raised her eyebrows at Summer. "You wanna talk about it?" she volunteered. Summer shook her head violently and mumbled under her breath. "Not like I would expect you to understand."

Marissa raised her head from her pillow. "What did you say?"

Summer turned around. "I said, Not like I would expect you to understand. That's what I said!" she emphasized in a snappy tone. "Summer, what's wrong with you?"

"Nothing!" Summer retorted, pulling the covers off of her legs and getting out of the bed. "I thought this would be a good chance for us to catch up, us being in the same room together," Marissa explained to her.

"Yeah, well no thanks! I don't need your pity! Why don't you go where you want? With Ryan!"

"Because, he and Seth are spending time together," she started to explain again, grabbing Summer's forearm and spinning her around. "And I wanted to spend some time together with my best friend, you. Now what's wrong?"

Summer shook her head and lay down on the bed, Marissa carefully watching her. "I'm jealous..." Summer blurted out softly.

"Of what?"

"Of you. Ryan. You and Ryan."

Marissa seemed bewildered and laughed. "You're jealous of me and Ryan? Why?"

"Because, you know you two wanna be together, and know what you want. Me and Seth? I'm not so sure."

"You mean you wanna break up with him?"

Summer shrugged. "No. Maybe. I don't know Coop. See what I mean? You know you want Ryan. I don't know if Seth and I are meant to be."

Marissa sat down on the bed, near Summer's feet. "And you think me and Ryan..." she put up air qoutes, "Are perfect?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, it's kinda obvious that you two aren't that serious, you're just having fun. Why can't me and Seth be like that?"

Marissa's face fell. "You think that me and Ryan aren't serious?"

"I don't know," she shrugged. "You don't look like it."

"Oh."

"Why? Are you?"

"Sum, this conversation is about you, not me." "Well, whatever." Summer tried to defend herself.

"I mean, Seth, he was there when my parents divorced, when my Dad got remarried, and Mom as well, when the Nana went through her chemo, I was there for him." Pause. "Me and Seth are more serious than you and Ryan."

"Sum, you know me and Ryan _are_ serious."

"Really? I thought this was just a fling. Getting over Luke."

Marissa's eyes glared at her and she got up off the bed. "Don't make assumptions Sum," she snapped, taking her keys off the woodstand and storming out of the room, leaving Summer bedazzled in the hotel room all by herself.

---

"Hey Seth, can I talk to Ryan?" Marissa asked once inside Ryan and Seth's hotel room. Seth put down his comic book that he was reading and pointed to the bathroom. She nodded as if to say 'thanks' and started to head towards the bathroom. But she stopped and turned to face Seth, who had picked his comic book up once again and was reading. "You know, you might wanna be a better boyfriend and actually _talk_ to your girlfriend."

Seth scoffed and slammed the comic book down on the soft bed. "Is that why you came here? To tell me to go talk to Summer? Well tell her no! I refuse to talk to her! She cost us all the money that we had to get the damn car fixed! And her lame excuse--"

"Seth!" Marissa cut him off. "I swear you two are like the same brain!" she said to herself more than him. "Why don't you two go talk. You have some serious issues."

"Noooo," Seth dragged out. "Summer is PMSing, which yeah, in a way, she does have issues."

"I think these issues are a little more than woman troubles Seth. She thinks that you two aren't meant to be."

"What? Why!" he asked disbelievingly. Marissa shrugged. "I don't know. This is why people talk. So go. Talk." She shooed him away, sending him out the doors and walking to the bathroom once again. She smiled as she opened the door and saw Ryan bending over the tub, trying to get the water handles to work. "Hey."

Ryan, obviously startled, bumped his head on one of the water knobs and jerked back. "Damn!" he whispered under his breath, rubbing his temple. Marissa giggled, but bent down to help him, rubbing his temple and looking at his head. "Sorry, did I scare you?"

Ryan nodded. "Yeah, was kinda surprised by human contact. Quite surprsingly, Seth hasn't spoken a word all day."

"Yeah, neither has Summer. Well, except when she snapped at me."

"You two got into a fight?" he questioned, sitting on the edge of the tub. Marissa shrugged. "I don't know, I sent Seth to go see what's wrong." She joined him on the edge of the tub, placing his chin in her hands and examining his face. Ryan surprised her by leaning in and kissing her gently. She giggled at first, but kissed back. Ryan started to get into it, and was leaning back when he finally realized that there was no support, he had already fallen in, his feet in the air.

Marissa started to laugh uncontrollably, waving her hands wildly at her side from laughing so hard. Ryan groaned, picking his head off of the tile wall and looking at her as she continued to laugh. "Okay, I guess it was pretty funny," he laughed, settling in the bath tub. Marissa slipped her flip flops off and twisted her body around so she was facing the tub. She got in, cuddling herself into Ryan's arms.

"Unexpected," he commented, stroking her arm with the tips of his fingertips. "But kinda romantic if you think about it," she explained better.

"If you're a sap," he joked.

She playfully slapped his chest. "Hey! _I'm_ a sap!"

"Yeah, I knew that,_ sap_." He retorted playfully.

Marissa couldn't stifle back the giggle that escaped her glossed lips. She closed her eyes, wrapping one of her legs around his as he did the same; so they were all tangled up into one each other. She snuggled in closer to him, watching his chest rise up and down. "How long do you think we'll last?"

Ryan seemed confused. "Uh...what?"

She lifted her head up from his chest and looked at him. "I know, I know, you're a guy, but you're also one of my best friends...and...I just wanna know, how long do you think this Ryan and Marissa union will last."

Ryan laughed, obviously not sensing how serious she was. "Marissa? Are you sure you're okay?" "Yeah, fine," she answered. "I just...I don't know, talking to Seth and Summer, they make it seem like we're not gonna be together."

"So you wanna get them back by making them talk to each other?" he laughed.

"No. It's..." she sighed and rested her head on his shoulder. "Never mind."

"Well, it's something obviously, but what?" he questioned.

She pasted a small smile on her face. "Don't worry about it 'kay?"

Ryan didn't let it drop. "If you're going to base our relationship on someone else's relationship, than...what's so special about it?"

She looked up at him. "It's not."

"Exactly. I think...I think we shared some pretty...some pretty great moments."

"We did...we still are."

"So than...if I based our relationship on my parent's, do you really think we would last? Or your parent's for that matter?"

Marissa shrugged. "It's just...easier when you see two people and look up to them. Like Kirsten and Sandy." Ryan chuckled. "See, Sandy and Kirsten aren't perfect either, and neither are we..." His head was lifting from the side of the tub as the shower head started to drop some water drops on their feet. "What we have here, I want it to last."

"Me too," she added.

"I never thought my life would be like this...But I'm glad it is."

"Me too," she repeated with a smile. "But...it's just, we're leaving for college soon...and I want you there with me..."

"I will. Don't worry," he assured. The shower head started spinning like crazy and started soaking them as Ryan tried to get up, Marissa held him down. "No, come on, this is fun," she giggled, tangling their feet in each other even more and getting on top of him, kissing him tenderly. Ryan started to hint towards getting out and moving over to the bed, but Marissa continued to hold him down, the water beading off of their clothes. "Better?" he asked, getting up so Marissa was in his lap. She laughed, wrapping her wet legs around his waist, and kissing him once again while Ryan closed the curtain with the hand that wasn't supporting her.

---

"Okay, so let' so tell them that they can have the room to themselves and I can get my stuff," Seth told Summer as they walked hand in hand back to Ryan and Marissa's hotel room. Seth put a finger to his lips and put his ear to the door, trying to see what was going on. He squinted his eyes as if something more was going on. He heard groans and moans coming from inside and immediately lifted his head from the door. "My ears!" he yelled. "My ears!" he yelled again, running away from the door. Summer giggled, following him as he continued to yell "My ears!"

---

Marissa lay in Ryan's arms, exhausted. She started to go through her purse and found the flower as she put it in her hair. "Tell me. What you told me that day." She told him, whispering every word with emphasis.

Ryan chuckled, stroking the side of her face with his hand. "I think you're the prettiest girl." She giggled and let out a sigh. "It's not always gonna be this perfect is it?"

He shook his head. "I don't think so." Pause. "But...we'll get through it, I promise."

She smiled up at him. "Promise?"

Ryan nodded. "I promise."

He always kept his promises.

He leaned in to kiss her plump lips, his fingers smoothly running over the flower that he had given her. It represented them.

It's colors not fading, just like their love would never fade.

END

Damn! I am officially the corniest person on earth. But I couldn't resist. So, I hope you enjoyed and thank you for reviewing, and sticking through me while I never posted. I'll try to get better. But I will do this, I won't start the sequel until I finish my other stories, and since I finished basketball on Friday, I'll defintely have more time to update! So uh...thanks again, and I'll just stop now, before I get emotional. This was the first story I ever posted, and also my longest running, so thanks! :) And I don't know if that was the greatest chapter, so...I don't know, tell me what you thought. And I also don't know what the sequel will be called, but I'm sure you'll find it.


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